Bloomfield’s fund-raiser for ailing mom off and running
JAMAICAN Olympian Akeem Bloomfield’s Gofundme account has so far raised US$27,549 of the US$65,000 (J$10 million) required to pay for life-saving treatment for his ailing mother.
Bloomfield made it public that his mother Elizabeth Palmer was battling breast cancer, something she hid from her family when she was diagnosed in 2018 to “protect them”.
Between himself and his sister Kaydene Wright, they created a Gofundme account on April 21, 2021 to raise cash to assist their mother.
Bloomfield, who finished eighth in the 400m and won bronze on Jamaica’s 4x400m relays team at the 2019 World Championships in Doha, Qatar, revealed that his mother has been diagnised with stage four cancer that has spread to her bones.
“Her cancer has broken down her spine so bad that she is now paralysed from the waist down,” he posted on Instagram last month.
“She has to undergo surgery to fix her spine before she starts chemotherapy in hopes of saving her life,” he added.
Bloomfield explained that his family cannot afford the huge cost to help his mother, hence the Gofundme account was created.
“The medical expenses are a lot and me and my family will be doing as much as we can to help remedy the situation,” said Bloomfield.
His sister Wright, in an impassionated display, said she was not ready to lose her mother.
“Our mom is only 51 years old and we have not had the opportunity to give back to her for the sacrifices she made to help us be who we are today,” said Wright. “Please help us give our mom her best chance at life as we cannot bear to lose her. Not this soon,” she added. Recently, things have not been going well for Bloomfield, who is seen as one of Jamaica’s medal hopes at the Tokyo Olympics, as he got injured and is now racing against the clock to be fit in time for National Trials.
The tall sprinter has an impressive personal best of 19.81 over 200m and 43.94 for the 400m.
He opened his season winning the 200m at the Tropical Park Elite meet in Miami on March 20, clocking 20.75. He followed that up with a second-place finish in the 400m in 45.78 on April 4.
Then a week later on April 10, while competing in the 200m, he pulled up injured. Following a medical checkup it was revealed he had hamstring issues and has not raced since.