Valencia man seeks help for proper healthcare

Ambika Jagassarsingh

Reporter

ambika.jagassarsingh@guardian.co.tt

Deep within the Valencia region, a winding dirt track, filled with stones and loose gravel, leads to a man who has lost the ability to move about freely.

Now, imagine being unable to walk and this road was the only way out for help. This is the reality of 51-year-old Anthony Fordsingh.

For the last several years, Fordsingh has been living with his injury, a reminder of his past life as a straightener and painter.

“Well, I fall in this pile of steel … I didn’t believe it was so bad because I just stick up a little bit. Days after, in the evening, I feel my foot wet inside, and when I take off my boots, there’s blood,” he recalled how his health woes started.

Since then, life has changed significantly.

With a fond smile and a distant look, he declared he could have fixed anything.

“All types of steel work I do. I do straightening and painting. I can do any kind of trade. I worked night and day, right? And I never used to rest because I believe in working for what I want.”

Following the fall, Fordsingh tried to return to life as before, but with his injuries this proved more difficult than he thought.

After trying and failing to treat his wounds at home, he tried the public healthcare system but not much progress was made. He still does not know why his years-old wound refuses to heal.

“Different doctors come and tell me different things, but they don’t have a direct, well, what is the problem… So, up to now, I tell you, I still don’t know the problem. Them don’t know the problem.”

Years after, when Fordsingh now glances at his feet, it’s as if no time has passed since he first got the wound.

“It’s like, um, you see my skin, right? Like you take a knife and you just cut off my skin and it’s just raw flesh you see, and plain blood. Plain, um, the raw, raw, raw, raw inside it.”

Due to the loss of blood he experiences as a result of the wounds, he frequents the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex in Mt Hope to receive transfusions and blood.

Now, his main source of income is a disability cheque that barely covers the cost of his medical expenses and the few dollars his wife makes by selling limes and coconuts when they’re available and in season.

Due to this meagre income, they often have to forego certain needs to make ends meet. For Fordsingh, this means not visiting the clinic and necessary healthcare centres to receive the proper care he needs for a better chance at healing.

“Sometimes, I does have to leave my foot undressed for almost a week and cope with it because I had to put the money in to gain my little food stocks to go by.”

Despite a shortage of money, the only way to get the medical assistance he needs when he has the extra funds is by hiring a private car to brave the rugged terrain leading up to their humble abode.

“Everybody charge you a different price, it has no $100, no $200 is from four go up… Is um private, no taxi ain’t coming here, the road, they always complaining that the road is bad.”

Fordsingh, who did not want his face photographed, lamented that the $2,000 social grant can only stretch so far. Most of what he uses must be bought out of pocket. From ointments and tablets, to gauze and saline.

“It’s very expensive, you don’t get this in the dispensary. So, they tell you buy everything. What expensive, you have to buy it on the outside and it in different places. You have to shop around for it. You cannot go one place and some places, different prices.”

Apart from these medical expenses, there are basic needs that they require. With no electricity access, Fordsingh depends on a small solar panel to power what little devices they may use. As for water, their one tank has to make do by either catching water when it rains, or the occasional purchase of truck-borne water when there is spare change.

Now, Fordsingh has not only lost his ability to walk but also his six children.

“I end up in a situation with this, I couldn’t maintain to keep them around me, I couldn’t supply nothing for them… To see about my situation and to see about them too, it was very hard because I alone had the income coming in, right?”

Due to his injuries and lack of a proper roadway, Fordsingh is never able to leave the structure he calls home to see his children. And while the frustration of his situation does take a toll on his frame of mind, he remains hopeful and thanks God for the mercies he has received.

Despite his misfortunes, Fordsingh was blessed with a home built by Good Samaritans. However, this alone is not enough to help him get by.

With no electricity, limited water supply and deplorable roadways, Fordsingh needs a helping hand.

If you’re in a position to help, please contact Fordsingh at 319-7037.

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