Trudy Simpson, Staff Reporter
Lennox Edwards, who was paralysed after being shot at a dance in 2001, is determined to walk again. - RICARDO MAKYN/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER.
EVERY YEAR, October 2 brings back sad memories for 38-year-old Lennox Edwards. The reason - he was shot on that date in 2001.
That night at the dancehall had started on a promising note for the hard drinker and party animal.
But the night took an ugly turn when an argument developed between two gun-toting patrons.
Edwards and another man had tried to separate them. Edwards now looks back with regret at this attempt.
"If I could relive it, I woulda stay far from that dance," he says. In fact, he no longer attends dances.
On that tragic night, one patron opened fire and the other, held by Edwards, twisted away and returned the fire - shattering two lives.
The first shooter died in hospital from gunshot wounds.
Edwards was left with severe spinal damage, scars from major surgery, loss of a decent job, abandonment by many persons he considered friends, pains in his legs and an inability to even stand without assistance.
"At first I was kinda worried. I was wondering what was ahead of me if I can't walk. I wondered if I could ever come back (walk again)," Edwards said.
He confessed that feelings of sadness drove him to consider suicide at one point.
"I said I was going to go on Windward Road and wait on the first trailer that pass," Edwards related.
However, his girlfriend and adopted mother convinced him otherwise, and now he is determined to walk again.
"Is Father God thing and you haffi just no worry yourself, because if you put certain things on your head, you might go crazy," he remarked philosophically.
SEVERAL CHANGES
Still, the injuries have forced him to make several changes, which sometimes frustrate and sadden him.
On a positive note, he discovered his business talents. But on the negative side, he has had to pay for medical bills and for services, such as transportation ($600 per trip) and home repairs that he would have done himself before becoming disabled.
He has had to get accustomed to a wheelchair and to giving up some activities, which he enjoyed, such as his Sunday routine of riding and swimming at beaches in St. Thomas.
"Also, mi is a father who love to carry out my youths when holiday come so dem can enjoy themselves. Now, most holidays catch mi at mi yard and mi feel a way still," Edwards said.
Edwards wishes that the men at that fateful dancehall event had found a peaceful way of settling the dispute.
From his wheelchair at his workplace, the (Paraplegic Development and Outreach Foundation) PARADOF craft centre, Kingston, Edwards issues a call for peace.
"Mi woulda really like fi see the youths live good. Tek dem education and no make nobody tell them nothing. The gun business nah go work, so it pays fi everybody just live good," he said. "And no let no friend boost you up, because anytime you deh behind bars or reach in my condition, nuff ah dem nah come see you."
