My friend and coworker Mickel James is facing one of his biggest life challenges.

On a quiet afternoon in August, Mickel’s partner Ladana, their children and nephew were all injured by a reckless taxi driver who smashed into them while they walked in their community of Marverly in St. Andrew, Jamaica.

They are all fortunate to have survived, but now the family faces significant and overwhelming challenges.

 

Ladana, 10-year-old Mickayla, and 13-year-old Jesse, though recently discharged from the Kingston Public Hospital and Bustamante Children’s Hospital, require ongoing medical treatment and therapy.

Mickel, who doesn’t own his own vehicle, has had to rent and book cars to transport all three family members around Kingston across different medical facilities.

Young Jesse has been having the hardest fight. Jesse, a bright student of Pembroke Hall High School and a promising Manning Cup Schoolboy Football player is painfully adjusting to his new life with a disability. The life he envisioned for himself was taken away, and at 13 years old, he’s being forced to paint a new picture.

 

We are grateful for their progress, but the road to full physical and mental wellness will be long and hard.

The ongoing medical expenses for Jesse include weekly follow-up treatments, transportation costs, medicines, physical therapy, mental health counselling, the major costs of a prosthetic leg, and other related costs.

To help alleviate some of the emotional and financial burdens Mickel and his family are experiencing, we invite your kind donations to support Jesse’s rehabilitation costs and other essential needs.

Your support is appreciated.