Sat | Dec 20, 2025

Facing better future, Jabari flies off for surgery

Published:Monday | May 31, 2021 | 12:15 AMChristopher Serju/Senior Gleaner Writer
Jabari Osborne hugs his mother Susan Gordon and stepfather Jason Gordon as Jabari and Mrs Gordon prepared to fly to the United States on Sunday for surgery on a scar caused by arteriovenous malformation. To the extreme left is Cynthia Ramdon, a family frie
Rudolph Brown/Photographer
Jabari Osborne hugs his mother Susan Gordon and stepfather Jason Gordon as Jabari and Mrs Gordon prepared to fly to the United States on Sunday for surgery on a scar caused by arteriovenous malformation. To the extreme left is Cynthia Ramdon, a family friend.

The anticipation of playing on a trampoline was uppermost in the mind of 10-year-old Jabari Osborne on Sunday as he prepared to board a plane at the Norman Manley International Airport for New York, where he is scheduled to undergo life-changing surgery to his face.

Afflicted with the condition arteriovenous malformation, an abnormal tangle of blood vessels connecting arteries and veins that disrupts blood flow and oxygen circulation, Jabari has been the subject of ridicule all his life.

However, the bullying was the furthest things from the youngster’s mind as he prepared for his first plane ride.

“I am happy, but nervous, very nervous to go on the plane. It’s my first time travelling and I don’t know how I am going to feel,” he told The Gleaner.

Jabari’s story, published in The Gleaner on April 14, of years of teasing and questioning he has endured because of the scar on his face generated a groundswell of support for a GoFundMe drive that raised more than the US$32,000 goal for surgery. More than US$35,000 was raised in 48 hours.

The operation is slated for Thursday, June 3, at the Vascular Birthmark Institute at the Lenox Hill Hospital, New York. Airfare, accommodation, and other costs were covered.

“We are going to see experts, so we are expecting great things,” Jabari’s mom, Susan Gordon, said outside the airport’s departure hall on Sunday.

“Everybody in the family is excited. For me and Jabari, we are excited, but nervous. We just can’t wait to see the transformation.”

Gordon said she was grateful to all the people who contributed money, expertise, and prayers to make the surgery happen.

“It was so surprising, and heart-warming. Honestly, I was blown away by it, because I didn’t know that it would get so much traction and so many people would give a helping hand,” said Gordon, adding that she was especially thankful for Jabari’s aunt, Karen Osborne, who initially reached out to The Gleaner.

Jabari and Gordon were accompanied to the airport by her husband, Jason, and best friend Cynthia Ramdon, who were just as excited about the surgery and its anticipated positive impact on all their lives.

“It’s been a while he has had the condition, and I feel really great to know that he is going to do the surgery,” Mr Gordon said.

“I can’t wait to see him when they come back.”

christopher.serju@gleanerjm.com