Double amputee seeks help to get back on his feet
Published:Friday | February 5, 2021 | 12:14 AMNadine Wilson-Harris/Staff Reporter
Lancelot Harris lost his mother to diabetes as a teen. Then his father died from the same health condition. And in a bid to save his own life, he lost both his legs.
Diagnosed with diabetes at age 20, doctors had warned him that he was at risk of losing his legs.
He was devastated when the doctor told him he was indeed going to lose his legs. After losing his left leg, he didn’t want to go back, but his mother encouraged him by saying that she would rather have a piece of him than none at all.
“I was trying, trying all my best to prevent this from happening, but eventually, by working– standing on my foot and standing on them for so long – it eventually break down and it come to this,” Harris told The Gleaner.
WATCH: Double amputee seeking assistance
The now 55-year-old amputee says that losing his legs has made it impossible for him to continue his livelihood as a chef, but if he is able to source the $1.5 million needed to purchase two prosthetic legs, he can get back to doing what he loves.
He has been assured by his previous employers that his job is secure once he secures the legs.
“I love cooking very very much. I’ve worked at several places in Kingston,” he said.
Harris currently lives with the 88-year-old woman who adopted him as well as his niece and nephew in De la Vega City in Spanish Town, St Catherine, spending his days confined to a wheelchair.
“I can’t go outside for myself. I have to ask somebody to assist me in going,” he said.
Harris takes insulin twice daily, and he says his sugar level has remained stable. He is now appealing for help to purchase the prosthetic legs so that he can get them fitted at the Sir John Golding Rehabilitation Centre.
“I am moving on, and as long as I get my foot, I will be back on my feet,” he said.
Harris’ childhood friend, Sophia Greene, has been trying to assist by starting a GoFundMe account on his behalf, but it has not received enough traction to reach the goal.
“I want him to get a good-quality life because he is an independent person and he loves what he does,” she said.
Although she now lives in the United States, Greene sends funds monthly to assist with purchasing groceries and toiletries, but she is eager for him to get back on his feet. She recalls Harris being an instrumental community person when they were growing up and hopes the generosity he showed others in the past will now be shown to him.
“People like these we have to help,” she insisted.
Lurline Less, president of the Diabetes Association of Jamaica, said amputation is just one of several outcomes for persons living with diabetes. Given the risks, she encourages people living with the illness to manage it by eating right, exercising, taking their medication, and visiting their doctor.
“Diabetes is not picking any part of your body. It is affecting your entire body, so when you talk about amputation, it is manifesting itself as blindness somewhere else, as kidney disease somewhere else,” she said.
How you can help
Visit ‘A New Start at Life for Lancelot’ GoFundMe page to donate or contact Sophia Greene at (347) 749-2300.