Man suffering from elephantiasis asks for help
At 24, Ramone Donaldson did not expect to be living on the streets; neither did he expect to be battling various medical conditions.
However, he now has to ask for help in order to be able to move from one location to the next because he is suffering from a severe case of elephantiasis and asthma.
He said that he has no where to live and many times he has to beg for food.
Five years ago Donaldson was able to walk, but after he was mowed down by a car, he injured his left leg.
“After the accident, the doctors told me that my tissues were damaged and I had an infection in my foot. After that, my foot started to swell,” he said.
He told THE STAR that often, he is assisted by a friend with whom he shares the money he gets from begging.
Donaldson said his family members don’t help him and that is one of the reasons he is on the street begging.
NO PARENTS
“I didn’t have a mom from a very young age. I have been hearing stories but I don’t know, because she died when I was a child. My aunt said she can only take care of her children; and my dad turned his back pon mi and say dat I am grown and must care for myself,” he said crying.
He said that he is lucky that the Kingston Public Hospital has been treating his foot for free, because he was not sure how he would survive without them.
“I have to go the hospital very often because if my foot don’t get dressed, maggots will take me because my foot is draining,” he said. He had a wheelchair before, but it became defective.
“My friend was pushing me to the hospital and it fell in a pothole and the wheel bruk off. When my friend is not here to push me, I have to struggle with the chair and it is hard because I have to be drawing my foot on the ground,” he said.
Donaldson said that he needs a wheelchair that can help him move around and ease the burden on his friend, who has difficulty pushing him.
“He has to bend back of the chair so that my foot don’t draw on the ground and it tiad him out. Mi need other things right now enuh, but the most important thing is a wheelchair and that is why mi a beg it,” he said.