‘I feel like a man again’

WHERE DESPAIR once held him captive, Chrishawn Cornwall now walks with renewed purpose – a testament to the life-altering impact of a well-timed government intervention that gave him a second chance.

In 2020, Cornwall’s world came tumbling down. The 38-year-old father of three was walking with his wife to the bus stop when he felt a cramp in his left leg. He brushed it off as a mild inconvenience and made his way home, but by the time he got to his gate, the feeling of mild discomfort had grown so intense that he decided to visit the doctor.

The events of the next few months were beyond anything he could imagine. A whirlwind of visits to private medical practitioners left him with myriad opinions – ranging from pinched nerves to poor circulation.

During this time, a wound which started as a small cyst on Cornwall’s leg got worse, and various sets of medication did nothing to alleviate the pain.

The once-vibrant cabinetmaker was left dependent on his wife, as he could no longer make the furniture that supported his family financially.

After weeks of no answers, Cornwall was admitted to the Kingston Public Hospital (KPH), where he underwent a series of tests, which provided no further answers as to the cause of his affliction.

Doctors at KPH advised Cornwall that they would have to amputate his leg. He resisted and urged the medical team to discharge him.

He was, however, advised that this was not in his best interest and after some time, he came around. In December 2020, the hospital undertook the life-altering surgery and Cornwall was discharged shortly after.

Unable to cope with his new reality, he fell into depression.

“When they discharged me and I went home, I felt like I didn’t want to see anybody. I didn’t want to go on the road, I didn’t want to do anything,” he said.

Cornwall recalls, however, that his wife, Michelle Ann, never stopped encouraging him to return to the things that he enjoyed before losing the limb.

“Every evening she came in, she said ‘You don’t go on the road? You need to go look for your family and your friends. You need to go out! You can’t just stay in the house’,” Cornwall recounted.

CONFIDENCE

At his wife’s coaxing, he gradually regained the confidence to return to life as he knew it – using crutches to get around.

Cornwall also started visiting the Sir John Golding Rehabilitation Centre, at Mona in St Andrew, to which he was referred while at KPH.

He had consultations for a prosthetic leg, but the costs proved prohibitive, as his wife was the only one financing the household.

Cornwall explained that his mother intervened and decided to help him with the costs to obtain the prosthetic leg. She sent him the proceeds from a partner plan to make a payment.

As fate would have it, when he went to make the payment in 2024, he was informed about the ‘New Limb, New Life’ Programme that would change his life.

The programme, a partnership between the ministries of Health & Wellness and Labour & Social Security, had gotten under way, recently.

The $50-million initiative provides prostheses for patients between ages 13 and 60 who lost limbs due to health conditions or trauma.

One hundred and twenty Jamaicans have benefited from the initiative since it got under way in early 2024.

Cornwall said that after signing up for the programme, assessments were conducted by medical practitioners from Surgix and the order placed for his prosthetic leg.

The cabinetmaker said he was pleasantly surprised that the entire process took only a few months from signing up to him being fitted with his leg in March.

“Me never know it would come through so fast. Right now, I feel like myself again. I am working again, and it feels like I have my two feet,” Cornwall beamed.

He recalled how difficult it was for him to do his carpentry work while navigating on crutches and relying on others to complete some of the basic tasks that he had trouble accomplishing after he lost his leg.

“I feel like a man again. I can take care of my family,” he mused.

Reflecting further on the journey from losing his leg to being fitted with a prosthesis, and the highs and lows he experienced, Cornwall said he is grateful that he was given the chance to regain his independence.

For others who are on a similar journey, whether they are faced with the prospect of having a limb amputated or have recently lost a limb, Cornwall is urging them to have faith.

“It’s just a limb [that] you lose. Life is the greatest. Once you have life, there is hope. You just lose a limb, and it can be replaced. You have to just tell yourself , ‘Don’t give up’,” he advised.

The devoted father of three added that it is also important to have a strong support system.

Cornwall credits his wife for her strength and resilience in taking care of the family while he was incapacitated.

“She never left me an inch. She worked full time and even one time for the day, she came to the hospital to visit me. She was there for me fully,” he said.

Cornwall described the New Limb, New Life programme as a godsend initiative.

“The programme is good and I don’t want it to stop. I want other people out there who lose a limb to get help; because the way I feel, I would like other people to feel the same. I’m telling you right now, I feel great. It feels like there is nothing that I can’t do,” he said.

– JIS