The Star (Jamaica)

FOUR BRAIN SURGERIES AT 15

Teen needs help to realise dream of becoming a neurologis­t

- ALBERT FERGUSON STAR Writer

Nineteen-year-old Tavoy Senior, a resident of Red Hills in Westmorela­nd, did four brain surgeries in one week in January 2017 following the discovery of an abscess on his brain.

The sequence of events leading to Senior’s brain surgeries came as a result of him experienci­ng swelling in his eye that blurred his vision, caused by a sudden numbness in the left side of his body. Senior said that his situation was so bad that he was only able to see during the daytime. He sought medical attention at

Savanna-la-Mar Public General Hospital in Westmorela­nd, and doctors there quickly transferre­d him to Cornwall Regional Hospital in Montego Bay, St James, where he faced the drill and the surgeon’s knife to drain the abscess that had formed on his brain. “The doctor said I am young, but no one had survived so many brain surgeries in such a short period of time,” Senior, who was in grade nine at Petersfiel­d

High School, told Following the surgeries, Senior, who dreams of becoming a neurologis­t — a medical doctor who specialise­s in treating diseases of the nervous system — returned to school, but for a short time.

“I went back to school where I had to repeat grade nine. I was doing exceptiona­lly well at school,” Senior said.

He recalled that while he was in grade nine, he sat two

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 ??  ?? Cassandra McKenzie, Tavoy’s mother, shows his scars from the brain surgeries he did.
Cassandra McKenzie, Tavoy’s mother, shows his scars from the brain surgeries he did.
 ?? PHOTOS BY ASHLEY ANGUIN ??
PHOTOS BY ASHLEY ANGUIN

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