Student seeks help to correct hearing loss
Preparation for the Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) is often the first real challenge a Jamaican student faces in life. This challenge has got a little more arduous for a St Benedict Primary student who sustained a permanent damage to one of his ears last July.
Jaheem Lennard, a grade six student, sustained permanent loss of hearing to his left ear in a dispute in his community and now has problems hearing his teacher as he prepares for the GSAT in March next year.
Lennard’s mother, Ingrid Demetrius, told THE STAR that her son has a difficult time identifying where sounds are coming from.
“Sometimes he will be turning around whenever I call him because he doesn’t know where the sound is coming from,” Demetrius said.
She said that even though Lennard’s grades haven’t dropped significantly, his teacher has told her that he has difficulty hearing her instructions.
“She said that she haffi talk louder, and she notice that him finding it difficult to hear, so him might be missing things,” Demetrius said.
PERMANENTLY DAMAGED
After being hit with a piece of concrete block to the left side of his head in the dispute, Lennard went to the Kingston Public Hospital, where he was treated and sent home. But Demetrius discovered that something was still wrong and took him to the Caribbean Hearing Center, where she was told that her son’s left ear had been permanently damaged and that he would need a magnetic implant to correct the problem.
“I don’t have the money to do it, so I would really want some assistance,” Demetrius said.
The cost for Lennard’s surgery is $1,133,134, and Demetrius is asking the public for assistance.
Demetrius told THE STAR that she had opened an account at the National Commercial Branch on Duke Street in Kingston for persons who wish to make a donation. The account number is 065070308.