The aspiration to one day write the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examination remains alive for Jamal Reid as he battles with the changes to his physical and mental condition and as his healing takes its long and winding course.
Life changed for Jamal after an altercation with another student over a School Based Assessment (SBA) which first resulted in threats on social media ended with him being struck to the head with a cricket bat at Golden Grove Secondary School, on November 9 last year. Jamal was at the time anxiously preparing for his CSEC exams, and his mother, Holly Bess, was overjoyed because Jamal was given an opportunity that she never had. However, when Jamal was hospitalized, his family was greeted with the diagnosis that he had sustained a fractured skull which resulted in brain damage.
His mother said: “It is his desire to do CXC and it never die, but because of his current condition, we are skeptical. The doctor say not to pressure his brain… I just want the best for my children and as a single parent, I was working so hard for Jamal now look what happen. So now [he] is like a baby again, I’m frustrated… this is not what I want. I raised him for so many years, now for this to happen.”
Bess, a single mother of three, said she has worked tirelessly to send her children to school and be given a chance to become career driven. Since the incident, Bess has found herself jobless and now depends on her 20-year-old daughter and sometimes Jamal’s father.
As his healing continues, Jamal’s emotional responses serve as a constant reminder that not only has his physical appearance changed but mentally he has become a changed person as well. While the family tries to adapt to these changes, there is difficulty with not being able to understand some unusual behaviours which do not reflect Jamal’s known personality. Therapy is playing a vital role in some aspects of the healing, but these are largely confined to his physical injuries and not his emotional trauma.
Before the tragedy, Jamal was jovial, loving and respectful but now, Bess said, he has become an angry person and emotionally unpredictable. “He can’t control smiling; Jamal gets angry very fast now. His hand is moving partially and he is doing therapy for that. He can’t feel anything on the five fingers. At first when I talk to Jamal, he would laugh it off and gone… now he get angry so quick that I am selective with what I say to him. Little things he would get upset about,” his mother told Stabroek News.
Also, Bess said, Jamal remains traumatised by the incident. At night, she and his other siblings have to be careful when walking or turning on the lights in the home while he is asleep. The slightest disturbance causes him to awaken in fear. But the family continues to place their hope in the miracle of medicines. Jamal’s regimen of drugs include some to control his seizures and reduce his headaches. The medications, Bess said, play a vital role in restoring partial normalcy for Jamal. She has to be present at home most of the time to ensure that Jamal has his medications on time. The distraught mother said that at night she would stand and look at Jamal when he is asleep. Sleep is difficult for her as she must always be watchful because her youngest child is also ailing with a congenital heart condition.
During the interview with Stabroek News, Bess wept as she explained her frustration that as a single parent her hopes have been shattered by the tragedy. Bess said even her mental health is wavering as she is forced to accept her new reality and navigate through it. However, she continues to be steadfast in prayer, constantly reminded that she is also the head of the home. Jamal’s incapacitation also means that his responsibilities as the eldest son are now transferred to her or another sibling. One of his chores included picking up his younger brother in the afternoon from the daycare on his way home from school.
Bess and her daughter Annalisa Reid had visited the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) to enquire if Jamal could continue school following the incident. They were told that there was no need to visit, as the RDC would call them. They are yet to receive a call. Bess said she wished to meet with Minister of Education Priya Manickchand on the issue.
When Jamal was hospitalised, the family saw representatives from the Ministry of Education, but after he was discharged they were abandoned, she said. Students from the Golden Grove Secondary School visited Jamal but were unable to see him. The family still has many unanswered questions as the investigation into the school violence has stagnated. The outcome of the investigation has not been communicated to the family. Bess said their plea for justice was silenced by police harassment to Jamal’s sister, Annalisa Reid.
Annalisa told this newspaper that on Christmas Eve she was on the road with Jamal when a policeman attached to the Cove and John Police Station approached them and questioned her identity. The police rank then notified her about a report made at the station by the Headmistress of Golden Grove Secondary School against her over a Facebook post she had made. Annalisa told this publication that no name was mentioned in her Facebook post and she was venting her feelings on her brother’s situation. Jamal, who was holding onto Annalisa when she was arrested for cybercrime, began to cry. Annalisa was placed in a patrol vehicle and taken to the Cove and John Police Station.
According to Annalisa, Jamal ran home and informed their mother what had transpired. Confused, she rushed to the station without considering her appearance and spent her Christmas Eve begging the police to release her daughter. Annalisa was released from custody later that night.
Bess cried, “I break down mentally. My son is a whole different person. He reacts different. He is not acting like the person I know. My daughter was arrested. I didn’t know what to do. Yes, she post on Facebook and she didn’t mention name. We hurt bad. You see if the system doesn’t let the attackers face the consequences for their actions it will continue to happen. Only who feels it knows it. We still need justice.”
Despite the struggles the family faces in adapting to a new way of life they still believe that life will be better one day and Jamal will be able to complete his CSEC exams.
