Shay, regarded as one of the better writers at school, despite her disability.
WESTERN BUREAU:
SHY BUT determined, Shay Reid, a 15-year-old fourth form student at Mannings High School in Westmoreland often amazes people with her dexterity despite her obvious physical challenges.
What makes her story worth telling is not that she is an above average student of the sciences who wants to be a paediatrician but rather that, in the estimation of many people, she excels despite being born without arms below her elbows.
AMAZEMENT
A Sunday Gleaner news team spotted her at a track meet at Mannings a few weeks ago when, to their amazement and that of onlookers, her cell phone rang and she answered by flipping it into the air and catching it between her neck and shoulders before answering.
A well-adjusted teen, Shay does not regard herself as peculiar, since she really does not know how it feels to have arms in the first place and has no sense of inadequacy.
With a bashful yet infectious smile, Shay quietly asserted in an interview last week that she is quite comfortable with who she is. In fact, when Shay visited Panama in 1992 she was fitted with prosthetic hands, but has refused to wear them.
"Shay always felt demoralised when she wore the prosthetics," said Veronica Malcolm, her mother. "She is very comfortable with the way she looks and whenever I insisted on her wearing them she would say, 'If you like them so much you should try them'."
"I am comfortable with who I am," Shay asserted.
Principal of Mannings High School, Bonito White, explained his initial concerns for Shay when he first saw her. "We were concerned about her at orientation and wondered how she would be able to write," he said. "But as soon as we realised that she could manage, all our fears ended. I can say today that Shay writes better than most persons do. She hasn't stopped amazing her teachers."
A resourceful young woman, Shay explained how she started writing.
"I started writing with my toes. Then I just switched."
She now writes with her arms by placing the pen between her elbows. In speaking about how people generally respond to her, Shay explained that it is sometimes unnerving.
"People often stop and stare at me," she said. "Although I don't really like it, it doesn't bother me that much."
The self-assured and independent teen goes to school from Little London in Westmoreland by way of a taxi and, even though she is known in the community, the sight of her taking her money from her pocket to pay her fare touches the hearts of people every time she does it.
The main source of Shay's inspiration aside from God and her grandparents Pauline Simpson and Theodore Malcolm, is her mother Veronica, who had her at age 23.
Ms. Malcolm told The Sunday Gleaner that, as a first-time mother, she experienced many challenges in the beginning but found solace in her relationship with God and the unceasing support of her family.
THE OPTION
She said that during Shay's early years, she was given the option to have her stay at the Mona Rehab in St. Andrew, a choice she refused.
"I did not want Shay to grow up in a home. I had no intention to lock her away. I wanted to have her with me, to expose her (to real life) as much as I could," Ms. Malcolm said, her eyes brimming with tears. "I tell her always that nothing is beyond her reach. She even complains at times that I am over-protective and refuses to be pampered. She does not want people to feel sorry for her and she manages quite well. She makes her bed, rakes the yard, washes to a limited extent, feeds and bathes herself and does the final touches to her hair."
Shay chipped in.
"I clean my room. I iron and I wash my school bag," she said with a proud smile, and later admitted that she loves playing board games and listening to music, especially Elephant Man's.
The bond between Shay and her mother is strong. She is fully aware of her mother's love and support. In her characteristic shyness she said, "When I was born people told my mother that she should leave me at the hospital. I am happy she didn't. I am lucky to have a mother that loves me so much."
And despite the absence of a paternal father, Shay is never lacking fatherly support as she gets more than enough from God and her grandfather who is described as a pillar of strength.
