HELP HELP..CONTACT INFORMATION INCLUDED

SHANA Kay Campbell was not prepared for the events that would unfold on the morning of September 8, 2013 as she made breakfast with her grandmother in the usually quiet community of Guava, Lewistore, St Mary.

The usually serene Sunday morning quickly transformed into a bloody scene of crime following a near-death attack on then 15-year-old Campbell, who was kidnapped, chopped and stabbed several times over the body by her father, Wayne Campbell, who had months before been released from prison.

Today, two years after the attack, her legal guardian and cousin, Sharon Campbell-Danvers, is appealing for assistance so that Campbell can undergo a life-enhancing surgery. The sub-carina tracheal repair operation would allow the now 17-year-old to breathe, speak and eat with less difficulty, in addition to reducing the risks of her contracting infection while prolonging her life.

“I have been exploring my options for years trying to give Shana a normal chance of life, because what is happening to her is not fair. But the doctors here have done all that they could. Following the incident, Shana had two tracheotomies, one to save her life and another that left her with complex respiratory issues. She said the doctors in Jamaica say that they can do no more and what she needs is beyond the hospital’s capabilities,” Campbell-Danvers explained.

Having learned this, Campbell-Danvers sought international support, which saw her connecting with Kevin Carges, founder of Eight 4 Hope World, a non-profit organisation in Rochester, New York, that raises funds for special projects in developing countries, with whom she shared Campbell’s plight.

“Kevin was very touched when he was made aware

of Shana’s ordeal and immediately made contact with Dr Richard Constantino and Dr Robert Oliver of Rochester General Hospital, who have arranged for Shana’s complex surgery at the Cleveland Clinic later this year. The doctors are now preparing paperwork for

her December 7 embassy interview date,” Campbell-Danvers stated.

But, even as Campbell’s chance of normal life is closer to realisation, her guardian, who is also a school principal, has hit yet another major hurdle. She is unable to find the additional

money that is required

for her to perform the

highly specialised surgery.

“The clinic is donating much of the operation’s true cost. A highly-specialised surgical team will heal the hole in Shana’s throat, but it is the kindness of strangers that will help heal the hole in Shana’s heart,” Campbell-Danvers pleaded.

She said donations totalling US$60,000 which, when broken down, in Jamaican dollars amount to just over

$7 million, is needed for a

pre-surgical visit and assessment, transportation, surgery, continued counselling and related expenses. She has since opened a ScotiaBank account at the Old Harbour branch and persons wishing to assist Campbell can make contributions to 408629. She said that she may also be contacted at 353-4901.

She described it as a heartbreaking experience, not only for her and Campbell’s biological mother and grandmother who are very supportive but are unable to contribute much because of their employment status, but for Campbell as well who has become over-excited by the prospects of her quality of life improving.

“I know that it is a lot to ask, but I sit home every day trying to keep sane, writing my poetry or fixing and cleaning everything that has already been fixed and cleaned dozens of times, just wishing that it was all a dream. I want to go to school, to walk freely without puzzling eyes staring me down wanting answers for the reason there is a band attached to my neck or why there is a hole in my throat,” a tearful Campbell vented.

“I just hope that someone out there can help me. I try not to be so self-conscious or ashamed to walk on the street, but how can I not when the last time I was encouraged to go out my spit fell close to someone because I don’t always have control of what exits in the trachea,” she pleaded.

“Was it wrong of me to be excited about my father’s release from jail?,” Campbell asked, as she paused still after two years trying to fathom the reason behind his gruesome attack and desire to leave her lifeless.

Campbell’s father had been imprisoned for 13 years on a murder charge, and even as she tried to understand him and appreciate his return to her life he attempted to rape her after she return early from school while not feeling so well. Having reported the incident, Campbell’s father fled, evading the police over several weeks and camping out in bushes. But it was not long before he returned, this time with the intention to exact fatal revenge.

“I was home with my grandmother and sister cooking breakfast with my grandmother, he came up with a machete and grabbed me from behind, pulled me into the bushes, and he said that I was the reason he was a fugitive. He then stabbed me in the neck, then the stomach, he cut my underwear before stabbing me in the stomach. He said I was taking too long to die, before asking where next I wanted him to stab or chop me before stabbing me in the side. I pleaded with him not to kill me, but he said I had to die,” Campbell said reflecting on horrors of the morning of September 8, 2013.

She said that luckily for her, her grandmother and sister saw what was happening, but her machete-wielding father prevented anyone from coming close to her as she was by then unconscious. It was not until the police came, strategised and shot her father who had been clinging to her body, that they were able to rescue her.

She admitted that she sometimes is unable to live but joined her foster mother, her biological mother and grandmother in thanking

the officers of the Child Development Agency (CDA) and the nurses at the Cornwall Regional Hospital and the Annotto Bay Hospital for always being supportive of her, noting that even as they have tried to source funding for the operation, the CDA too has made several attempts, all of which have been futile.

“If only people knew what she has been through, many people thinking she died. Months in the hospital, copious amounts of treatment after surgery, and being unable to smell or taste… having to remove and clean three to four times daily, a tube that controls your breathing, or being completely unaware of the foul stench it lets off when it becomes infected, or having to wear a colostomy bag for months, or having to hold your hand to a trachea every time she needs to speak. That is real pain, but it is also strength. I hope that the people of Jamaica can help Shana to regain the life that was stolen from her. Please help us,” a tearful Campbell-Danvers pleaded.