Dane Brown: Don’t underestimate a kid with a disability

If you closed your eyes and listened to 16-year-old Dane Brown speak, you would have no idea that he has a disability. You would picture him as a confident young man ready to take on the world – or in his case, take on being the coach of the next big football team.

Born in 2003, Brown was diagnosed with osteogenesis imperfecta, a condition he describes as one in which “any little bounce can break your bones”. His mother, Carol Chambers, who had two children prior, had to give up her job after he was born to play the role of nurse, teacher, and caregiver to her youngest son.

“My mother gave up a lot for me – her job, going out with friends to stay at home with me – and because I was in and out of the hospital and couldn’t stay in school, she had to also teach me,” Brown said.

Though he is grateful for the sacrifice of his mother, he shared that the experience was “not nice”. All he could think about was the fun his friends were having at school and at play while he stayed at home – something he did for over seven years.

His fate, however, changed one day as he and his mother were on the way home from his usual hospital check-in. They had walked on South Camp Road, where they passed by a school. Without knowing the name of the school or what it specialised in, he turned to his mother and said that he wanted to go there.

“I don’t know what came over me. I didn’t know about the school, but I really wanted to go there,” Brown said.

His mother wheeled him towards the gate, where they spoke to the security guard on duty, and though he did not let them on to the compound, he provided them with a brochure to read at home. To Brown’s surprise, the school, Genesis Academy, was a perfect fit for him, and he knew right there at 11 years old that that was where he was meant to be.

The fees, however, placed a cloud over his dreams. Not only was the school expensive, but attending would incur additional fees, mainly transportation costs, and the charge to lift him in and out of a vehicle. His family just could not afford it.

Fast-forward two years later. The Harris family from the United States came to the community of Rae Town to host a summer treat, and in good old Chinese telephone style, they learned of the little boy known as ‘Fudgie’ – a name given to him because of the ‘sticks’ that were used to support his broken hands and legs that resembled those of the famous ice cream snack.

The family spoke to his mother, and through their support and the support of the police in his community, Brown was able to start school.

“I remember the exact day I started at Genesis. It was September 6th, two years ago. I remember going into my classroom for the first time and seeing the other kids staring on me. I have always been used to people staring on me, but this time, I knew that it wasn’t because of my disability but because I was the new kid,” Brown said.

He shared that the experience at Genesis has been life-changing. There, he met his two best friends and has been given a chance to use his disability as a platform for others, recently being one of the faces of the I Am Able campaign by the Digicel Foundation.

His message for Jamaica is, “Do not underestimate kids with a disability”, because he has seen first-hand the great things children with physical and mental disabilities can do.

He has set a goal to become a football coach, which he believes is not something far-fetched as it takes mental ability, which he possesses.

In sticking with the mandate of its latest campaign, I CAN, Pepsi-Cola Jamaica, title sponsors of the Jamaica Tallawahs ,hosted an empowerment session for the wider Genesis Academy community where the team encouraged the students to continue to dream big and not to let their challenges become a challenge.