All was going great for 36-year-old Janice Willis, a teacher at the Fellowship Primary and Junior High School until a freak accident resulted in serious damage to one of her eyes.Willis, a resident of Prospect, Port Antonio was doing an innocuous thing that ordinary people do so many times without incident when the unimaginable happened. On December 6, 2014 she was cutting her fingernails when a cut piece of one nail flew into her left eye, damaging the cornea.She was admitted in the Kingston Public Hospital (KPH) for a month and is now in Florida, USA receiving treatment to prepare her eye for a corneal transplant. However, Willis and her family are unable to foot a US$10,000 (J$1,150,000) bill to have the corneal transplant done in Florida.Up to the time of the incident, Willis taught at Fellowship in east Portland, where she has been working for 13 years as a grade five teacher. Her brother Akeem Rose who spoke to North Coast Times said, “It’s really heart-rending to see that just a small accident like this can cause such large effect on one’s life.”The Times spoke with Willis who said: “I think the doctors tried their best with the limited resources that they have at KPH. At times they told me that my eye may have to be removed because it was really bad.” Willis is now at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute in Florida.
“After treatment, depending on how healthy my eye is I will be able to do the corneal transplant which is estimated to be about ten thousand US dollars (US$10,000).”Willis is appealing for funding to finance the eye surgery. “I am unable to come up with that amount of money and so I am appealing to the public for their support in whatever way possible. As Jamaican say, “every mickle mek a muckle.” Willis is thankful for the support from CALF, her school, Fellowship Primary and Junior High; her family, persons on facebook and others who have contributed thus far.The Change A Life Foundation (CALF) of which Willis is the vice president, will be hosting a gospel concert on Friday, January 23 at 7pm at the Friends Church along Smart Road, Port Antonio in aid of her corneal transplant. A bank account is also available for contributions, through NCB. Account name Janice Willis, number 064947060, Duke Street Branch. Money will reach the account from any NCB branch. Contact can also be made to Samantha Russell, president of Change a Life Foundation at 1876-509-2802.
