Mom of three renews appeal for help fighting colorectal cancer

WESTERN BUREAU:

Nickeisha Black, the 34-year-old mother of three children who is battling Stage-3 colorectal cancer, says she is placing her fate in the hands of God and the prospective kindness of others, as she continues to seek help amid mounting medical and financial challenges

Black, a native of Bethel Town, Westmoreland, has been struggling with her disease since 2024, a battle made more complicated with the death of her spouse, the loss of her job, and Hurricane Melissa’s destructive passage in 2025. Her plight was previously outlined in The Gleaner last month, where she said she had to relocate and stay with relatives in St Catherine due to her house being damaged by the Category 5 hurricane that made landfall on October 28.

“I came to the Hope Institute in St Andrew on Monday [March 16], and the first thing they did was to do a blood test. The doctor mentioned that I am definitely going to need a blood transfusion, and they said they would request the blood from the Kingston Public Hospital, and then I will get radiation treatment and then chemotherapy,” said Black.

“I have an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) procedure to consider, plus a CT scan, and I still have the responsibility to take my medication. I am just trusting God and that He is going to make a way, but I want to plead to persons out there, this is a serious matter, and I appreciate whatever they can do, but I need some more help and stronger support,” she added.

Colorectal cancer, which affects the colon or the rectal passage that connects the colon to the anus, is the third-most-common cancer among Jamaicans, with 800 to 900 new cases detected annually. In 2020, the Ministry of Health & Wellness recorded 796 new cases of the disease islandwide.

Despite assistance from the Delaware-based Rebuilding Falmouth with Hands and Hearts community support group, a GoFundMe campaign that was initially launched on Black’s behalf was unsuccessful. She is planning to start a new GoFundMe, but she is seeking stronger support, financially and otherwise, to help her juggle her medical bills and support her three children, ages 12, eight, and five.

“I had two persons who reached out to me previously, and there were other persons asking how they could assist, but that was it. I am grateful for that contact, but I was hoping I would get a better turnaround, and we will definitely have to set up a new GoFundMe to seek help,” said Black, for whom the MRI will cost approximately $80,000 and an ultrasound, $24,000.

“I still have the CT scan to get done, and we had put aside the money from the previous GoFundMe for that. But I have to consider medication, plus my children’s needs such as lunch money and foodstuffs for them and for myself,” Black added. “Even the little money that we are putting aside to go toward the CT scan, we have to be pinching from it for those expenses. I am not complaining, I am grateful for everything, but I do need the help, and I am just praying that this time around I will get more support.”

Meanwhile, Rebuilding Falmouth with Hands and Hearts’ administrator Ann-Marie Berry-Grant said that, even with the help that the organisation has given to date, Black still needs more assistance to manage her treatment costs and care for her children.

“We have been sending money to offset some of Ms Black’s bills, and we are trying to see how else we can help her. But even when we send her money, she has to go into the funds just to send her children to school, and she had an appointment to do her MRI, and she missed the appointment because she never had the money,” said Berry-Grant. “We are asking, please, if anybody can drop off Pampers, wipes, and bed-pads for her, or even stuff for her kids, it would be helpful.”

christopher.thomas@gleanerjm.com

Persons who wish to assist Nickeisha Black can contact her at 876-781-0783 (WhatsApp) or 876-390-4-052 (direct calling), or Ann-Marie Berry-Grant of the Rebuilding Falmouth with Hands and Hearts group at 1-850-238-9989.

Donations can also be made to Black’s bank account at the Bank of Nova Scotia, Fairview branch # 90605, savings account # 000877049.