| – as donations roll inSTANLEYTOWN, NEW AMSTERDAM – Businessmen in the Central Corentyne area were added to the list of donors to assist in offsetting medical expenses for Nicola Blades.President of the Central Corentyne Chamber of Commerce, Bhigroop Poonai, pledged $50,000 on behalf of the businessmen. The amount is to be handed over within two weeks.Head of the New Jersey Arya Samaj,Wholesale China Jerseys, Pandit Suresh Sugrim, in collaboration with the Guyana Central Arya Samaj Humanitarian Mission, indicated that his organization is also willing to make a contribution.Twenty-one-year-old Nicola Blades, of Lot 31 Stanleytown, New Amsterdam, suffered a sudden inability to walk in 2005, and three years later, she still cannot. According to a medical document from a private hospital in the city,Cheap NHL Jerseys Online, Blades had no previous history of this condition.There is sensory sensation in the lower limbs, but no motor activity. The findings of an MRI in 2007 showed, after a T2W screening of the thoracic spine, that the posterior epidural at T4, T5 and T6 levels elevated the posterior ligament (ligamentum flavum) with possible collection/mass.The document also suggested that there may be an indural mass,Chase Edmonds Jersey, like meningioma. The thoracic cord was swollen, with changes of cord edema from T4 to T 6 levels.On May 8th this year, the Internal Medicine Department of the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation presented the family a medical report which states, inter alia, that Nicola is suffering from weakness of lower limbs. She was referred for surgical treatment in Trinidad.Claudette Blades, the mother of the incapacitated young woman, explained that the cost of the actual procedure is not yet known, since the doctor in Trinidad said he must see her first in order to evaluate the situation. “The doctor told us that he has to see the patient first, read the medical report from Guyana, and do over the MRI because the tumour is something that is growing. After that, we will know the cost to do the operation.”Touching on the initial bill, she said, “The cost of the MRI is $112,000 (TT$3,500), and that, the doctor said, must be done in Trinidad. The CAT scan is $80,Cheap Adidas NHL Jerseys,000 (TT$2,500), consultation fee for the doctor in Trinidad is US$100. Then there is the airfare and accommodation in Trinidad to look at. We are poor people and cannot afford it. Please help my daughter.”Following an article on Nicola’s predicament in the Kaieteur News two Mondays ago, a few persons called and made promises to assist. Some of them deposited some $27,000 to the account which was set up at the Republic Bank.The family continues to appeal for assistance in order to give Nicola a second chance at life. “I cannot afford to go to Trinidad, and we have to go on October 7th this year, and we are poor people. I am a single-parent, her father is not with us. I am pleading with persons to assist in giving my daughter a chance to walk again.The doctor is claiming that there is a tumour in the spine.” Claudette Blades, the mother, said.Being confined to a wheel chair for three years is like having her youth snatched away from her.Yesterday, a more optimistic Nicola said she believes that, with the help of God and the generosity of persons both in Guyana and overseas,Wholesale MLB Jerseys, she will recapture the joy of being able to walk again.She said that last Monday was the best day of her life since her predicament. “After people read the article in the Kaieteur News, all day my phone was ringing. Persons called from as far as Linden, Bartica, Trinidad, New Jersey, New York and several other places. All of them want to help me. They made me feel like I belong.”However,Wholesale Soccer Jerseys, the most touching call came from a pensioner from Melanie Damishana. “He told me that he read the article. As he was talking to me, he started to cry and he continued to cry throughout the conversation. He told me that when he collected his pension he will put a $1,000 in the account. The next day he called and said that he deposited the money. I thank him and all the others who have helped so far. A gentleman from Bartica promised to purchase the two airline tickets for me and mommy. Some other persons called and they did deposit money. I am eternally grateful to all of you.”“I believe that people are generally good, and I believe that with their help I will be given that second chance at life. I am like a baby once again, except that I can talk and I am intelligent. Please, can any of you who would be reading this article please help me? My family cannot afford the cost for my surgery overseas, air fare, accommodation, and all that goes with it. My mother sells in the market.”Her mother explained that Nicola attended school up to the secondary level, and was just an average teen when dilemma struck. “She first started complaining that the foot was getting stiff, the right foot. I used to rub it with coconut oil because I thought it was a cold.”The woman said that Nicola then started losing her balance, and would fall frequently. “I took her to a bone specialist and we did several x-rays, but nothing was found. She was transferred to the medical clinic, and nothing again was found, and she was referred to the Georgetown Hospital. They found nothing again, and we took her to several private doctors in Georgetown for two years, and they did not see anything. I took her back to the Georgetown Hospital in 2006, and subsequently she was admitted to the Georgetown Hospital, where she spent two months. I took my own discharge and took her to a private doctor, then he requested the MRI.”Several trips to different doctors later,http://www.soccerpro.us.com/AS-Roma-FC/, the recommendation was made for her to undergo a surgical procedure in Trinidad. “They told us that she will be able to walk again, because the feet still have life. She still has feelings in the feet, but she just cannot stand on them or walk. I believe that if my daughter gets help, she will walk again.”Her mother described her as a “very quite girl, she likes to smile, and such a loving child. She is my only girl and the younger one of two children. It is hard watching her suffer like this. She does not feel pain all the time, expect if she sits all day. She has to lie flat on the floor and she would pull herself around. I cry a lot when I think of what has happened to her, and she would tell me ‘don’t cry; don’t take on, that she will walk again.’ With help, we try to hold her up, but she cannot make it at all. We have to do everything for her.”The young lady shyly said, “I feel sad that they have to do everything for me. Everybody got to do everything for me. I like my privacy, and now I don’t get any privacy. I cry a lot every time I think of what has happened. Sometimes when I am at home alone and I see people going out, and knowing that I cannot go out, I cry.” Persons interested in assisting Nicola can contact the family on 333-3850, 683-7312 and 682-1808.Nicola Blades |
