The Rotary and Rotaract clubs of Demerara recently handed over wheelchairs to 14 physically-challenged residents of Linden.
Fifteen-year-old Cinderella City resident Alicia Trim was one of the recipients judged to be among those most in need by the two Linden-based clubs in collaboration with the Linden Hospital Complex and the Regional Welfare Committee.
In September Trim was diagnosed with a cancerous tumour in her right leg and was forced to have it amputated from the hip because of the advanced stage of the disease.
The teen’s mother Brenda Harris said her daughter’s diagnosis has hit the family hard and it had further complicated her asthma condition. Struggling to keep her composure Harris said Alicia had already been forced to spend weeks hospitalised undergoing surgeries for asthma attacks and the cancer has added further complications. Both sad and shy to tell her story, the teen sat lovingly embraced in her mother’s lap.
Harris said Alicia has been unable to attend school and though she has not yet accessed chemotherapy treatment she is in the care of a local doctor. The woman said however, that she would be happy for any kind of assistance that could improve her daughter’s condition.
Rotarian and local business entrepreneur Basil Jaipaul said that a number of chairs were sourced from Wheels International and were distributed among six clubs in Guyana.
He said that 14 chairs were sent to Linden and shared among the Rotary and Rotaract clubs. Jaipaul said the club is confident that the donation would positively impact the lives of recipients most of whom suffered from chronic illnesses.
