Persevering through a dim Christmas

Karen Sudu, Gleaner Writer

VICTORIA, St Catherine:

'TIS THE season to be jolly, and 51-year-old Lloyd Vincent of Victoria district in St Catherine would be a happy man if he sells at least two hundred pounds of jerked chicken on Christmas Eve.

It is one of the most popular foods in Linstead during the festive season, especially at the much-anticipated Grand Market.

"In the Christmas season, you find the sales good, especially on Grand Market night, but otherwise, during the weeks sales not so good," explained Vincent.

When our news team caught up with him in the town on Saturday afternoon, he was cleaning his jerk pan, to cash in on pre-Grand Market sales.

"Last year, sales was very nice. It was nice for me, but this year you can see that it is very dull. All this time last year, you find people busy on the street doing Christmas shopping, and lots of toys were on the street and the shops were busy. People selling, but there is hardly any buyers this year."

But whatever the outcome on December 24, Vincent told The Gleaner that he would still be thankful, as three years ago he lay helplessly in the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI), unsure of his future.

"In the hospital when I was feeling the pain, I asked God to heal me, and in less than 10 seconds, when the word come outa me mouth, I see a bright light come cross me chest, and I say who could it be but Jesus. I know it was Jesus who healed me," he testified.

It was an accident that had caused him to be taken to Linstead Hospital in the first instance. He was later transferred to Spanish Town Hospital and then to the UHWI, where he spent two weeks.

"I used to work with an engineering company on the train line. I dropped off a push trolley on the train line in Bog Walk. It run right over me from head to toe, (and I) got seven broken ribs. The doctor said my kidney was damaged, so the doctor stopped me from work," said Vincent.

Nevertheless, as soon as he was well, the father of two sons and an adopted daughter was on his feet.

"I had to do something to make a living, so I start selling jerk chicken in Linstead, but, at times, we have a little trouble with the police on the streets, so we have to put the jerk pan on a cart to keep moving away from the police, instead of them destroying the goods."

Vincent rears his own chickens. "I will continue to jerk chicken because right now, that's the only thing I can do to make a living," he stated