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update: April 13th 2026
Dear friends and family,
It's been a while since we shared an update on Duane's journey. We thought 2025 was challenging, but 2026 isn't turning out to be any better.
Unfortunately, things haven't gone as hoped. Duane was supposed to be on the mend after his November 2025 surgery, but at his 5-month check-up showed non-union – his bones haven't healed, even with bone grafts. The plate on his fibula, placed during his first surgery in Guyana, has broken, and that bone hasn't healed in a year.
When we thought we were nearing the finish line, we find ourselves at the start again. His leg has started to swell and has a bit of pain returning, he can only hop on the other leg with the crutches no weight bearing on the broken leg, which is how he was when he arrived in Barbados 10 months ago. Very frustrating and disappointing but
Duane's being very brave, doing his research, and taking it one day at a time. This is a hard blow, especially for Duane, and we're figuring out the best plan forward.
We are told he needs another surgery, to remove the broken plate, remove all the hard ware , possibly replace it with a rod, and add more bone grafts. This major surgery could give him the best chance to heal and walk again. There is no quick fix .
We're grateful for all your support so far but still need your help to give him a chance to walk again.
Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for being with us on this difficult journey. With love, prayers, and Duane's determination, we are not giving up.
Duane, Jan, and family
Update:
Dear friends and family,
We wanted to update you that we are lowering the GoFundMe goal from $100,000 CDN to $30,000 CDN.
This is because when Duane first arrived here in Barbados, we were told he might have to go to England to try to fix his leg, but we managed to find a doctor who took on his case here in Barbados.
As you all know from the updates, the first operation was to try to get rid of the infection, which they did, and we were so grateful as then they made a plan going forward to repair the leg. The first operation, plus CT scans, blood work, meds, and doctor visits he had before and after was over $20,000 CDN. All of you who donated to the GoFundMe and those who donated locally here helped us get that far, and we were so grateful. When they decided how they were going to repair the leg, the cost was way more than we had left in the account and what we anticipated, but with your ongoing support and donations here locally, we managed to put a down payment so he could have the second surgery because the antibiotic cement beads that were placed in the first surgery had to come out within a certain timeframe. As you know, he had the surgery on 28th November 2025, and so far is doing well, but still has a way to go to heal the cut, then X-rays to see if the bone is knitting with the bone grafts. He is still having weekly visits to change bandages and check-ups, which we still have to pay for. Since the last update, we still owed for the second surgery, but with help locally from some very generous friends who helped us raise enough to pay off some of the outstanding bill for the hospital and to pay some of the surgeon fees. This has been a great relief, but we still need to raise a bit more to pay it all off, as well as the aftercare. Until the bone heals and with physio, he still can’t walk or put weight on the leg just yet, so we still need a little help until then. This will probably take another two months. That’s almost a year since his accident.
Again, we want to thank all who donated, big or small - we could not have come this far without your generosity.
With love, Jan, Duane & family
Update: Dec 26th 2025
Hey friends, family, and kind strangers
We're finally at a crucial point in Duane's journey to recovery! After 9 months on crutches and multiple surgeries, he's had his latest (and hopefully last!) surgery to repair his leg. The 7-hour procedure went well, and we're grateful for the incredible care he's received.
The road to recovery is long, though. Duane's facing weeks of wound care, doctor visits, and meds, followed by physio and x-rays in the new year.
We're thankful for the support that's gotten us this far, but we need your help to cover the costs . We've covered the first surgery, but the second one is still pending, and expenses are adding up. Every donation, message, and share brings us closer to our goal. Duane's blown away by your kindness and prayers – it's made a huge difference.
If you're able to help, we'd be forever grateful. And if not, sharing the GoFundMe with your network would be a huge help .
Thanks for being part of Duane's journey. We love you all!
Jan, Duane & family
Update: Oct 11th 2025
Not sure how to put this but this is where we are.
Next surgery scheduled for 21st November.
We just managed to make enough for the first surgery to put in the antibiotics beads take out one of the plates harboring the infection and clean out the broken bits of bone left floating around.
Unfortunately the next operation is going to be allot more complicated as he has to have bone grafts from his hip and bone graft material with antibiotics to fill in the holes left in the bone for it to heal so he can walk again.
This is going to be a challenge for the doctors as they still don’t know if they will replace a new plate where the old one was or take out the other plate on the outside of his leg and replace with a more stable one to make sure the leg is stable enough to walk on , along with the bone graft to help heal the bones to fill in the spaces. He will also be immobile for at least 8 weeks.
This has created new challenges and the cost of this operation is going to be allot more than what we anticipated.
While we are deeply grateful for all the support already given, we have not yet raised enough to cover the cost of the second surgery or after care. These additional costs have made the need even greater. Without this surgery he will never walk again.
Duane has always been a very active person and very independent so this has been a tremendous strain on him and we want to give him the best chance of a full recovery.
We kindly ask if you are able to contribute, or share this fundraiser with others, who maybe able to help,
Every bit of support helps financially or spreading the word, every donation big or small means the world to Duane and the family.
We thank everyone again who have donated and supported us so far, we are forever grateful.
Duane, Jan & family
Update: Sept 2nd
Duane had his first surgery on Saturday morning and was released at midday on Sunday. We are relieved to share that everything went as efficiently as we could have hoped,and with the management of pain medication he experienced minimal pain.
They removed one of the plates and screws that they suspect was harboring infection and packed his leg from knee to ankle with cement antibiotics. They also removed the floating bits of bone and cleaned out the leg as much as possible. They also took cultures to see what infection or infections are there in the bone.The hole in the bone that they saw on the CT scan after cleaning it out was much larger than was first thought, so bone grafts are a must going forward. He has a back cast on strapped with bandages for the next 6 to 8 weeks, and antibiotics in hope the infection will have cleared by then so they can do the second surgery to repair and fix the leg.
While this is only the beginning, it’s an encouraging first step as he has been waiting for two months to see what could be done to repair the leg, after four months since his accident and five other surgeries that did nothing to help the bones heal. We will continue to take one day at a time and pray that in 8 weeks things have improved, he’s staying positive surrounded by the love and support of his family, friends and wider community.
Your donations,prayers,and messages have lifted us up in so many ways we can’t fully put into words, we are so thankful. We’re still working towards reaching our fundraising goal, as every contribution-big or small-
Helps cover the cost of treatment, surgeries ,including his year long rehabilitation cost.
GoFundMe is helping us reach international support but for those in Barbados who prefer to give locally, you can also donate directly to Jan’s
Account.
Janine Hive
Kinmont Rockley new road, Christ Church
Scotia bank (Barbados ltd)
Bridgetown Branch
Transit 40055
Account type: Chequing
Account number: 020811394
We will keep you updated and from the bottom of our hearts-thank you for your support. We’re doing everything we can but we can’t do this alone. Please help us give Duane the chance to walk again and to heal without the stress of how we will pay for it.
❤️ Every share, donation or message means the world to us.
With gratitude,
Jan, Duane and family
Update: Aug 10th
Hi everyone ,
As you all know Duane arrived in Barbados just over 5 weeks ago and since then he has had more blood tests, xrays, CT scans and Drs visits to figure out what’s the best way forward to fix his leg.
When he arrived he had already gone through major surgery for one of the most dangerous and difficult to heal types of fractures a schatzker iv tibal fracture reduced with plates and screws and unfortunately a serious infection post op which required 3 other surgeries to control and prevent sepsis . It would be wrong to say this hasn’t been a very difficult journey to date still he’s gratefull for all of the kindness and concern which has helped him get through one day at a time , hes focusing on the positive of having such a great response from friends and family to make sure he gets the neccesary medical treatment and support .
Still the news we got last week wast good , after 4 months the scans show the badly fractured bone hasnt even started healing , there are gaps of missing bone which cannot be left unbridged as well as bone fragments floating diconnected which creates a chance for the infection to persist and develop in to a long term problem. It’s also because it was not a clean break , the bones shattered and broke into pieces. Where the break is, is complicated to fix according to the dr. He’s also been put on another antibiotic to add to the one he was taking for this last month.
Whats next? Well he has to have two surgeries , one to remove one of the plates clean out the infected parts , bits of shatered bone , pack with antibiotics and take samples from the bone to test for the bacterium .
He will have a back cast on for six weeks. Then the second operation is to take bone from his hip , open the leg , make sure theres no signs of infection and remove any dead bone and prepare the fracture area for the bone grafts and then maybe insert another plate for support .
The magnitude of this is not what we expected . This is overwhelming for the family as there is no quick fix, it could be months to a year before he can walk or put weight on the leg.
Every contribution - whether through GoFundMe or directly will go toward covering Duane’s treatment costs, including his year long therapy, and ongoing care. Your support means more than we can say.
Update: July 3rd
Hi everyone,
Duane is finally home in Barbados. It was a very emotional reunion as he has not seen his mother in 7 years and we are so thankful he can get the love and hopefully help and care he needs to recover.
Unfortunately the infection is still there and he is still on antibiotics. We have a nurse coming in every other day to clean and dress the leg. He has seen an orthopedic surgeon and had X-rays and blood tests but the prognosis is not good as the condition of the fracture and the presence of hardware complicate the treatment and has been advised that surgery is required and the hardware has to be removed and rods and pins put in to try to treat the infection and bone grafts to try and heal the broken bones, which up to now after two months have not even begun to heal. As such this procedure can take three months or more to heal if all goes well, however, there is still much uncertainty with this injury and infections in the bone are complicated to treat and can lead to a bad outcome.
So, we are left with important questions and decisions as to what comes next. The costs of these expected treatments will continue to climb and our family plans to offer Duane every opportunity to save and heal his leg going forward. We are not certain yet if it’s best to have the operation here in Barbados or if he will need to go overseas to an orthopedic hospital that deals and specializes with this type of injury and infection to try to save his leg. This is going to be a very long process, and we are just at the beginning of the journey .
Duane is staying strong and doing his best to be positive. He is also very grateful for all the support showned so far. We thank you for any assistance that you are able to offer so that he can get back to his life he loves, close to nature and to be with his children and granddaughter that mean so much to him. With love and gratitude.
Jan & family
Dear friends, family, and kind-hearted supporters,
We’re reaching out today on behalf of our beloved Duane, a 49-year-old son, father, and friend who is now facing one of the toughest battles of his life.
Duane has always lived a life close to nature, working as an eco-tourist guide deep in the Rupununi and Amazon rainforest of Guyana. Those who know him know his kind, gentle soul—his love for the land, his commitment to sustainable living, and his joy in sharing the wonders of nature with others. He’s lived simply, humbly, and happily doing what he loves. But life took a sudden and devastating turn on April 25th.
What was supposed to be a short motorcycle ride to attend a family wedding turned into a nightmare. In the remote interior of Guyana, Duane was involved in a serious accident. With no nearby medical facilities, he waited in the heat of the savannahs under a tree while his leg started to swell and become infected and it took over 8 hours to get him to the nearest hospital in Lethem. There, doctors discovered that he had shattered multiple bones in his leg and knee. A week later, things worsened—his leg became infected and he was taken to Georgetown for emergency surgery to fix the shattered bones (knee and lower leg) and then to stop infection from spreading further into the bone or the blood which could have cause sepsis.
Update : he is now on his third surgery to help clear out the infection.
Duane was placed on intravenous antibiotics and is now on a cocktail of other strong antibiotics to try to ensure the infection subsides completely and doesn’t return, but this is a slippery slope and he needs to have one on one care, not only to keep testing his bloods, organs and vitals to ensure the infection is clearing but to also irrigate a very painful and badly infected wound on the outside of the leg.
The conditions for recovery presently in Guyana are not suited to the success of his recovery. And while he remains strong in spirit, the recovery ahead is long and uncertain. Doctors estimate it could take 8 months or more before Duane will be able to walk again and the current infection is threatening his potential to make a full recovery. He will need continued medical care, physiotherapy, follow-up visits, and time—time to heal, time to regain strength, and to return to the life he cherishes.
We’re asking for your help to bring Duane home to his mother and family in Barbados, where he can recover with his family by his side. The costs associated with his care, travel, medical treatment, and rehabilitation are growing daily, and our resources have been stretched to the limit and we are now humbly reaching out to our wider community for support.
Your help will go toward:
• Medical and hospital costs
• Flights to bring him home to Barbados
• Rehabilitation and physio
• Ongoing recovery expenses
Duane has always given so much of himself to others. It’s incredibly difficult for him to ask for help—but we know that even the smallest gesture, a donation or a prayer, can make a meaningful difference. No act of kindness is too small. Every bit will help get Duane the care he needs—and bring him home to heal with the love and support of his family.
With love and gratitude,
Duane's mum (Janine Hive)& Family