15-year-old boy suffers serious injuries in diving accident; GoFundMe started

Sunday, March 31, 2024, was supposed to be a fun day on a river in Ocho Rios for Kemar Wallace and his friends, but fun turned to tragedy when a diving accident potentially changed the course of the 15-year-old’s life.

Antonette Wilson was miles away in St Catherine when she heard the devastating news that her son was being taken to St Ann’s Bay Hospital because he was unable to move his body or speak.

“I almost fainted. “I’m shocked, I don’t expect to hear this,” said the single mother of three boys Observer online.

Wilson said when her son arrived at the hospital he was able to speak, and when she later arrived at the medical facility, he told her the circumstances that led to the accident.

“They have a swing over the river where you swing and dive into the water, so he goes on it and swings. I wasn’t there, but from what he told me and what other people who were on the trip say: When he swings and dives, he goes down head first because he twists his body out of the air and licks his head in the river bed . ” she explained.

“When he licked his head, he floated up and didn’t respond; He couldn’t speak, couldn’t move, but he said he could hear noises and see what was happening. So one of the friends he goes swimming with every weekend thinks he’s just swimming over for fun because Kemar loves making jokes, so he goes over and starts boxing him and says, “Kemar, how Do you like playing like that?” And then he noticed Kemar not responding and looking at his face, he called for help and they took him to St. Ann’s Bay Hospital,” Wilson continued.

Doctors at St Ann’s Bay Hospital found that Kemar had broken two bones in his neck. He was treated and transported a few days later to the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) in Kingston, where he was admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU).

More devastating news followed when doctors discovered that the accident had affected blood flow to Kemar’s organs as his heart rate and blood pressure were unstable.

“In his test at UHWI, you can’t see the vein, so no blood gets to his organs. They need to find a major vein in his neck up to his shoulder where the blood drains and give him a different treatment than what St. Ann’s Bay Hospital gave him so that they can get his blood pressure and heart rate up to a level leading They go through with the surgery because these are low,” Wilson said.

She said Kemar, a student at Old Harbor High School, was scheduled to undergo surgery last Friday (May 3), but he had suffered three seizures in the previous days, which caused it to stop on its own to breathe. The attacks were caused by headaches and fever, with tests revealing the cause was an infection in his blood. Doctors started antibiotic treatment and had to put the teenager in an induced coma.

Wilson said that before his health deteriorated last week, Kemar’s infectious personality would light up the ward as he would make the nurses laugh and even make her feel better when she visited him. But now that he’s in a coma, she’s having a hard time coming to terms with it.

“He loves dancing, he loves laughing. I can’t explain how I feel, but him not responding now is a burden for me because when I go to the hospital he keeps me awake. Because his brain functions normally, he can tell you anything, every treatment they prescribe, every name of the drug maker, he loves to use some big words. When we go to his place we joke and make each other laugh so I might leave the house sad, but when I go and talk to him we laugh together, he feeds off my energy and I feed off his.

“But the sad part comes when I walk out to go home because he is the one who is always at my house. When the other two boys are with their father, he is always there where I am,” she said with emotion in her voice.

Wilson desperately wants her son to have surgery and return home soon. She expressed optimism as she noted that Kemar has defied all odds and revealed that doctors were amazed that he was breathing on his own after the accident. She also revealed that he had started moving his hands and was experiencing sensations in his feet due to daily therapy.

Due to the high costs associated with the treatment and the pins, screws and other supplies needed to repair Kemar’s bones and save his organs, Kemar’s family has set up a GoFundMe account to raise 10,000 euros (1.68 euros). million J$) to offset costs.

“The amount is basically to cover the total bill, but I don’t think it will cover everything because we don’t know how long he has been in the intensive care unit, which costs $75,000 a day, apart from the medication, that they give him and the MRI. “tests and other tests and the surgery fee and medicines that I buy,” she said.

So far, 831 euros have been raised, far less than the target. Anyone who would like to help get Kemar the help he needs can donate at https://gofund.me/bec1005e.