Are our lives worth any less in St Catherine?

THE EDITOR, Madam:

IHAVE long been a fan of Etana. From the first day I heard the lyrics of her song Wrong Address, was left spell bound by the sweet melodies of this songbird. In her song, she talks about the challenges of persons from innercity communities; as it relates to getting jobs due to their addresses, they were treated with suspicion.

As a young man from rural St Catherine, I could not relate. For me, this was a distant reality. I listened in songs and watched in movies until now.

A friend of mine asked me to give blood for her uncle, who is a resident of Spanish Town but now a patient at the Kingston Public Hospital. In her last conversation with him, he was literally in tears. He was in need of blood, and the doctors asked family members to donate on his behalf. My friend was terrified of needles and weighed her decision with a heavy heart but, like the saying goes, blood is thicker than water, and she asked me to give blood as well.

On April 27, 2020, we went to the Blood Bank in Kingston in an effort to do our part. However, to our surprise, we were informed that they will not be taking blood from anyone in St Catherine.

At the moment that I am penning these words, no one has donated blood on his behalf. As a resident of Spanish Town, most of his family members are also from St Catherine, and as the ones closest to him, they are the most likely to contribute. Recently, the story of Jodian Fearon has captivated the country, but what about the silent victims who are also dying from the fear of COVID-19? Is anyone able to count the true numbers?

PARALYSED WITH FEAR

Alone on his bed at the Kingston Public Hospital, the nation may never hear his cry, his name, or the names of persons like him. As a nation, have we become so paralysed with fear that we will allow persons to die because we are afraid to help?

Is St Catherine suddenly a ‘wrong address’? For all my life, I have been proud to call St Catherine my home and to have been given the opportunity to represent my parish. I am especially proud of my alma mater in Spanish Town, and I will always wear her colours with great pride.

My pride will never diminish, even in light of the reaction of the young woman at the reception desk at the Blood Bank, who responded to the words ‘Spanish Town’ in a manner that reflects the disgust and discrimination we face.

We have been taken aback by the story of Jodian Fearon, but what of the silent victims whose cry we will never hear because more than half a million Jamaicans can no longer contribute blood on behalf of their family members?

SEON LEWIS