After bypass surgery, Chang learns value of letting go
Loading article...
WESTERN BUREAU:
For decades, Deputy Prime Minister Dr Horace Chang has lived a life dictated by public service.
From student leadership at Cornwall College and The University of the West Indies to medicine, politics and national security, he has spent much of his adult life making decisions, solving problems and carrying responsibility.
But after open-heart surgery forced him to step away from the daily demands of public life last year, Chang found himself confronting something he rarely had time to consider. Himself.
"It was a period of introspection," Chang told The Sunday Gleaner during an interview at the S Hotel Montego Bay, two Sundays ago, while reflecting on the months following surgery to correct three blocked arteries.
"You learn to value the people around you more. You confront your own mortality."
"You begin to think about how you want to live the rest of your life."
The veteran politician said the experience forced him to pause in a way he had never done before.
The moment came when doctors informed him that what initially appeared to be a blockage that could be treated with a stent was, in fact, far more serious.
"The real moment came when I was told I would need bypass surgery," he said. "That was the point at which I reflected on my own mortality."
As a medical doctor, Chang understood exactly what the diagnosis meant. "I fully understood what open-heart surgery was," he said. "At that point, you pause and look back."
Yet he quickly found himself relying on others in ways that years of public life had rarely allowed.
His wife Paulette moved to Kingston during his recovery. His daughter Melissa assumed responsibility for managing communications and shielding him from the constant demands of public life. His son Martin and close friends rallied around him, while Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness ensured that Cabinet colleagues gave him the time and space needed to heal.
"The support was tremendous," Chang said.
"My family was extremely supportive, along with some very good friends."
Thousands of messages also poured in from Jamaicans across the country wishing him well.
"The support I received was tremendous," he said. "People were constantly reaching out."
But perhaps the most significant lesson came not from the operating theatre or the rehabilitation ward, but from stepping away from work.
For a man who has spent years overseeing one of the country's most demanding ministries, recovery required learning to trust others.
"One of the challenges has been deciding what I should attend and what I should stay away from," he admitted.
"I have had to trust the people around me more and allow them to do what they are trained to do."
That lesson, he said, extends beyond politics.
"One of the challenges everybody faces in life is successful handover," he told The Sunday Gleaner. "Leaders sometimes have difficulty doing that."
The experience reinforced his belief that organisations become stronger when leaders create space for others to grow.
"You have to allow the people around you to develop responsibility and make decisions," he said. "That is a better route."
Recovery itself has also required patience.
Chang spent more than two weeks in hospital and months in rehabilitation, following a strict programme of breathing exercises, physiotherapy and carefully managed activity.
"The most challenging part has been maintaining the discipline required for recovery," he said.
"You have to slow down and allow your body to heal." Although he has gradually returned to public duties, he admits the experience has changed his outlook.
At 73, he said he is now more conscious of the need to strike a better balance between public service and personal well-being.
"I still have responsibilities, and I still have work to do," he said. "But I also have to make time for myself."
Looking back, Chang describes the experience as difficult, but ultimately transformative.
"It was a tough experience," he said. "But it was also a very instructive one."
And while the surgery repaired his heart, he believes the recovery taught him something equally important.
"There are things you can no longer take for granted," he reflected. "You gain a better understanding of your limitations and learn to respect them."
For one of Jamaica's most recognisable public figures, it is a lesson learned not from politics, but from life itself.