6-y-o with cancer needs help By Denise Clarke, Staff Reporter
WESTERN BUREAU: SIX-YEAR-old Kemar Grant came home from pre-school on the evening of June 7, 2000 and complained of pain in his legs. He told his mother, Evelyn Mangal-Grant, that he was hit by one of his schoolmates, while standing in the lunch line at school. She noticed he had a wobbly walk. Mrs. Grant decided to be cautious and took him to see a doctor the next day. Thus began a series of traumatic events that would affect the lives of this humble family living in Grange Hill, Westmoreland. The doctor, who attended to Kemar that day, prescribed treatment for the pain in his legs. After three months and 21 doctors who treated him for various illnesses, Mrs. Grant still did not know what was ailing her son. Confused and frustrated, she took her son to the Cornwall Regional Hospital (CRH) in Montego Bay. The doctors there quickly referred Kemar to the University Hospital in Kingston. In September, Kemar was diagnosed with Lymphoblastic Lymphoma, a rare type of cancer of the bone and marrow. He spent five months in the University Hospital, where he received medication and chemotherapy to force the cancer into remission. "Him hair fall off, he couldn't walk, one time he look like he was in a coma, he did not even talk," his distraught mother said. The medical bills piled up. By the time Kemar was released from hospital on March 9, 2001 he had accumulated over $60,000 in medical expenses. His stay at home was short-lived. On April 2, he was admitted to the CRH and spent eleven days. He was again admitted on May 1 this time with high fever and low blood count. Today, little Kemar is still a patient at the hospital. His doctors say he needs another cycle of chemotherapy which will cost about $60,000. In addition, young Kemar will require repeated cycles of chemotherapy over the next two years, as well as other medications estimated to cost between $10,000 and $20,000 per month. Mrs. Grant and her husband have used up all their finances to pay for their son's treatment. Kemar's eleven-year-old brother only goes to school, when extra money is available. The couple is sure that their son will get better and is appealing for help from the public to pay for his treatment. "I never give up, I always pray, I never get the feeling that he will die. The doctors always talk to us, they tell us that he can live up to thirty years as long as he is on the treatment," Mrs. Grant said. Persons wishing to make donations can go to the Savanna-la-Mar branch of National Commercial Bank, account number 61-4102160.
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