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'We just had to make it our duty' - Past students' association reaches out to crash survivor

Published:Saturday | November 20, 2010 | 12:00 AM
From left: Clayton Todd, assistant treasurer, Florida chapter of the Dinthill Technical High School; Leslie Nembhard, Jamaica chapter; Margaret Watt-Walker, public relations chairperson, Florida chapter; and Omrie Burnett, assistant secretary, Florida chapter, hand over a generator, among other items, to Patricia Hall, recently. - PHOTO BY KAREN SUDU

Karen Sudu, Gleaner Writer

LINSTEAD, St Catherine: PATRICIA HALL, a motor-vehicle crash survivor of Linstead, St Catherine, is resting a little easier these days, through the benevolence of Jamaicans locally and overseas.

The publication of a story 'Urgent help needed for accident survivor' in The Gleaner on September 24, highlighted the plight of Hall, a 23-year-old Dinthill Technical High School past student, who has been incapacitated since a 2004 accident on the Riversdale main road in St Catherine.

A team from the Florida chapter of her alma mater's past students' association, visited Hall at her Linstead home recently and gave her a well-needed suction machine, a generator, a nebulizer and other personal supplies.

moved to help

Margaret Watt-Walker, public relations chairperson, who headed the delegation, explained to The Gleaner that the association had been focusing primarily on assisting students.

"However, if we have any past student that requests something from us, we try and help. But this one, it wasn't a request. We just saw it in the paper and decided that we had to do something. Normally, we would evaluate the situation, but this time there was nothing to evaluate, we just had to make it our duty to be here," she said.

Watt-Walker explained further that both the Florida and New York chapters which donated the gifts would be providing continuous assistance for Hall. She added that the intervention of other chapters would be sought.

The association also extended its goodwill to funding repairs to the roof of Hall's mother's house which was in disrepair.

Among other groups that have offered a hand of kindness to Hall since the publication of the story are Port Authority of Jamaica, Holy Childhood High School and the Linstead City Mission Church.

Glasford and Merlin Clarke, Peter Bunting, member of parliament for Central Manchester, and Winston Wilson of the National Solid Waste Management Authority are among the persons who have since impacted the life of the once promising athlete.