Nadia Morgan gone too soon

THE EDITOR, Sir:

NADIA MORGAN was a Jamaican doctor and medical researcher. She specialised in rheumatology – disorders of the joints, muscles and ligaments.

Fortified by a strong, supportive family and an excellent highschool education at Immaculate, she was provided with a sound springboard to start her career in medicine at The UWI. My GP and treasured friend was one of her professors. I recall mentioning her name and before I was finished he shouted, “EXCELLENT!”

After graduation, Nadia continued her studies in the United States, and in 2016, she was the recipient of the American College of Rheumatology Distinguished Fellow Award. She was, by this, a member of the Johns Hopkins Scleroderma Center.

In addition to being an instructor of medicine, Dr Morgan was the principal investigator in a research project titled ‘Interleukin13 and scleroderma in African Americans’. Scleroderma is a chronic hardening and contraction of the skin and connective tissue, either locally or throughout the body. Women in the group have a life expectancy of about 22.4 years. Of special interest to us is that this condition has a significantly higher age-specific incidence and prevalence in people of African ancestry.

At 11 p.m. on December 15, someone ran a red light and hit Dr Morgan’s car in the United States. It burst into flames. Dr Nadia Dominique Morgan was pronounced dead at the scene. She was only 35 years old and was planning to visit her parents in Jamaica, today.

Thirty-five years! Only half of the promised three score and 10. We soothe our sorrows by telling ourselves that no one dies before their time, and we only die when our work on Earth is finished. I disagree.

She was willing to be misunderstood. She will not die unless we forget her. Yes, she would not live forever, but she was creating something that would. And for that reason, she is not just a loss to family and friends. She is a loss to humanity. GLENN TUCKER glenntucker2011@gmail.com