Charity giving St Ann residents hope
FOR 71-year-old St Ann resident Fabian Clayton it was a joyous moment when his sight was restored after not being able to see for many years.
What many thought was an impossible feat became a reality following a cataract surgery performed by doctors at a free eye clinic hosted by Dr Kiran and Pallavi Patel Foundation along with the Mind Body and Soul Health Ministry.
“Mi happy about it. Mi give God thanks,” an elated Clayton told the Jamaica Observer North East.
“Him feeling good because he can see me and anybody come around,” his wife Sadie added.
Clayton is one of 250 persons to have benefited from the mission which was recently held in Manchester.
This is the second time the Claytons were receiving assistance from the Mind Body and Soul Ministry as the organisation assisted them to get married last year, bringing an end to their 20-year common-law union.
“I always pray to God for breakthrough for him and it really happen. I am so happy for him,” Mrs Clayton said.
In addition to the health mission which was held in Manchester, the Mind Body and Soul Health Ministry continued its prosthetic leg donations at the Alexandria Hospital in St Ann.
Over the past two years more than 60 persons have benefited from the mission with several amputees receiving prosthetic legs valued at millions of dollars. The organisation has been able to make the donations in partnership with American prosthetist Carey Frounfelter, who is himself an amputee. Frounfelter is set to make another donation of prosthetic legs to several persons in St Ann in the near future.
Last Wednesday he did casts for 26 people and assisted with adjustments for some who have already benefited from the charity. The hard-working Frounfelter revealed that travelling to Jamaica to offer the much-needed assistance was a joy for him.
“We are just doing this through the Christian ministry,” Frounfelter said, adding that he had lost count of how many visits he has already made to the island. However, for the past two years he has been visiting Jamaica several times a year to make donations through the ministry.
“I enjoy doing this; I have been providing prosthetic services in the United States since 1989 so I have been doing this like 25 years. This is just what my passion is,” Frounfelter told the Observer North East in between doing fittings for prosthetic legs at Alexandria Hospital last Wednesday.
Barry Yorke, who lost his leg in an accident four years ago, was grateful for the assistance.
“I am really appreciative because, tell you the truth mi couldn’t afford it right now so mi really give thanks for it,” he said.
Yorke explained that he was hit from his bike in Golden Grove, St Ann, resulting in his losing a leg.
Persons from as far as St James joined those from St Ann to benefit from the mission.
“I did not know there were so many of us,” one amputee told the Observer North East.
These persons are now anxiously awaiting Frounfelter’s return when they will receive the prostheses for which the casts were made.
Horace Morgan, one of the founding partners of the Mind Body and Soul Ministry, said the amputees will be getting the legs just in time for Christmas.
The eye clinic at the hospital was not the only health clinic held by the charity groups. Several other clinics, including a dermatology clinic, were held at several locations throughout the course of the week. A team of 10 doctors including two ophthalmologists and a dermatologist also worked in Manchester bringing free health care to many.