Jacqueline Ford (right) and her son Renaldo Gibson with fellow Rhodes Memorial Methodist Church members.

A MOTHER is asking for the public’s assistance in fulfilling her paralysed son’s request to be brought home for the holidays as he recovers from his latest ailment.

Jacqueline Ford told The Tribune that her 23-year-old son, Renaldo Gibson, recently underwent surgery for kidney stones that had been delayed for almost a year and has asked her to take him home.

However, their Yamacraw home was devastated by Hurricane Matthew and she is unable to accommodate her son there. Her mother, Alfreda Edwards, has offered to house him but her home also suffered roof damage and will require plywood before a new room could be set up for her grandson.

Mrs. Ford is also asking for assistance in purchasing a generator, a bed and air conditioning that would allow him to breathe and rest comfortably. Mr. Gibson was paralysed from the waist down in a car accident seven years ago.

“I took him to the Accident and Emergency in April and he was admitted in ICU because he was having abdominal pains from renal stones doctors found out he had sometime back about a year ago,” she said.

“He had stones and the surgery had gotten delayed and delayed. He was in there for about a month. He went in there, was able to move his legs, he was talking and he was able to use his left hand what he normally use to do everything with. He could have fed himself, use his phone but he took ill and he was in ICU for a month. And upon his discharge, he was unable to do everything that he could have done previously.”

Mrs. Ford said she took her son into hospital before the approach of Hurricane Matthew in October “to have him secured”.

“I spoke with one of his doctors who are always there for him. He made the arrangements for him to be admitted. He’s on an oxygen machine at home and for fearing the electricity would go and not be immediately restored, I didn’t want him home. To date, he’s still in hospital.”

He had surgery on November 17 and Mrs. Ford wishes profoundly to thank the Public Hospitals Authority and doctors at Princess Margaret Hospital, especially those on the Male Surgical Ward 2.

She also wishes to thank her mother and brother, Jonathan Edwards, as well as the congregation at the family’s church, Rhodes Memorial Methodist, for their support.

Mrs. Ford also expressed gratitude to The Providence Rehabilitation Centre that she said has been a continual help to her son.

In 2009, while taking a then 16-year-old Renaldo to school, Mrs. Ford and her son were involved in an horrific car crash on Prince Charles Drive. The force of the collision propelled Renaldo out of the vehicle and onto the pavement, paralysing him from the waist down.

Mrs. Ford said upon impact, her head struck the steering wheel of the car, causing her to black out. She said when she regained consciousness and didn’t see her son in the car, she managed to crawl to the passenger side of the vehicle to look outside. She said she noticed her son lying on the ground not too far from the crash.

She indicated that local doctors initially informed her that her son would require the assistance of a ventilator for the rest of his life. She said that revelation prompted her to fly him to the Orlando Regional Medical Centre in 2012.

Shortly after his 20th birthday, Mr. Gibson breathed without the help of a ventilator for the first time.

“Right now my focus is on getting him out of hospital because he’s getting in that depressive state. I promised him I would take him home and I intend to keep my promise,” she said.

Anyone who wants to lend support or offer donations can contact Mrs. Ford at 393-8555 or jacqueline_55@hotmail.com.

Lamech Johnson, Tribune Staff Reporter

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