Rockel Gladstone, 20, of Kimbia, Berbice River was scheduled to leave Guyana yesterday for India to undergo a much needed kidney transplant.The trip is made possible by Three Rivers Kids Foundation, a charitable organisation in Ontario, Canada.Rockel will be exchanging places with 19-year-old Satish Gobin, of Anna Caterina, who underwent a successful kidney transplant on June 23, 2010. Satish is due to return to Guyana soon to begin his new life, according to Jeanette Singh, Head of the Foundation.The cost of Satish’s trip to India was approximately US$36,000. This included airfares, cost of the surgery,
Austin Hooper Falcons Jersey, accommodation and food for six weeks, one year of medication and other miscellaneous expenses in India.The Ministry of Health contributed US$5,000 and Three Rivers Kids Foundation paid the remaining portion. Satish was accompanied by both his parents.Rockel, her father Frank Gladstone and her brother Randy Gladstone were due to arrive in Toronto last night.Frank Gladstone will be donating one of his kidneys to save his only daughter. They will stay overnight in Toronto and will leave for Batra Hospital in Delhi on Sunday afternoon. They are expected to stay in India for six weeks, Singh said.Rockel Gladstone was diagnosed with renal failure early last year after experiencing ill health since 2005. She required dialysis treatment twice weekly in Georgetown because of her non-functioning kidneys but her family was struggling to cover the costs.“She is my only daughter and I would do anything to save her life. She is still very young; the third of five children. When she does not receive the dialysis she gets delirious. On any given day she can only use about 20 ounces of fluid whether it is tea,
wholesale jerseys, water or whatever,” said Cheryl Gladstone.“We had to pay $80,000 weekly for two dialysis sessions for my daughter plus transportation from Berbice. How can I afford something like that? I am just a poor peanut and red-bean farmer,” said Frank Gladstone.Singh said that she met the Gladstone family on June, 11, 2010 when she was in Guyana to accompany Satish Gobin to India.“Rockel held both my hands, looked at me in the eyes and said, ‘you are the only one who can help me, you have to help’ in her quiet and ladylike manner,” said Singh.“I felt her pain and suffering, I could see it in her eyes. I saw the desperation. I promised her that I would get her out of Guyana by the end of July.”Singh said the Gladstones organised many fundraising activities in Guyana to help raise some of the funds needed for Rockel’s kidney transplant. They are very grateful to everyone who donated money to help make this trip possible.Singh said that she would especially like to thank Taiwo Stuart-Worrell of Caribbean Airlines for all the help she has given to Three Rivers Kids Foundation over the years, and continues to do so whenever she is asked.Meanwhile, Singh has urged the general public to be cautious when responding to appeals of this type. The Foundation has experienced occasions where unscrupulous persons solicit money for their own means, using this kind of situation to raise funds for their own personal greed.She advised persons who want to donate to exercise some measure of caution and ask questions.Information is easily available by calling the Foundation at 225-7758 or checking their website at www.threeriverskidsfoundation.org.*************************Ismay Spooner 109, cheerful and still going strongBy Melissa JohnsonLITTLE AFRICA, CORRIVERTON – The feisty 109-year old Ismay Spooner of Little Africa, Eliza and Mary, Corriverton is still clinging to life, enjoying every moment and spreading good cheer.I first met her in January this year and we made an instant connection. I have met quite a few persons who achieved the age of 100 and beyond, but never have I had the joy of meeting one as feisty as this 109-year old.Back then in January, the feisty ‘ole gal’, who is my new best friend, had said she knows there is a reason I became a part of her life.“You think is by magic you (Melissa Johnson) were sent into my life? No, it’s for a reason. Some day you would know the reason but by then I gone. Is the Spirit of the Lord move us and we would always be good friends, girl. The feisty Ismay SpoonerThe Lord works in mysterious ways and we don’t always understand how or know why. If God is not in the picture, nothing doing child,
NFL Jerseys Wholesale, nothing doing. May the good Lord keep you safe and you continue being a good girl.”Though I do not visit her that often, we communicate on the telephone, although it is difficult with her hearing being not so good. I always enquire how she is doing. On Friday I spent some time with her. Her memory was
