Following bike accident... 15-year-old seeks help to save leg

Following an ordeal which has confined her to a hospital bed for nearly two months now, 15-year-old Cavaughn Coleman said she has learned a valuable lesson, which is that children should listen to their parents. However, it is a costly lesson, as she will need near to $800,000 to rectify a knee which was damaged when she defied her mother's wishes.

On December 20, at about 2 a.m. last year, Cavaughn's mother, Keisha Coleman, got a phone call saying her daughter was in hospital following a terrible accident. This seemed like a dream to Coleman, as she was sure her daughter was in the house sleeping.

However, unknown to Coleman, her daughter had sneaked out of the house and went for a midnight bike ride.

"Someone told me that Cavaughn was on the back of the bike and the rider swerved to avoid a pot hole in the road. But he swerved right into the oncoming traffic and her knee collided with the back of an oncoming bus. She fell off the bike and the bike fell on top of her knee," Coleman recalled.

She further explained that her daughter's injuries were so severe that passers by who offered assistance thought she was dead. "The whole of her knee did mash up. It look something like mutton," she said.

Cavaughn sustained various injuries during the accident. "She broke her hip, she broke her pelvis, and she suffered some other damage that doctors say might cause her not to be able to have children," Coleman said.

learning experience

Cavaughn, who is currently missing out on school at Eltham High in St Catherine because of her admittance at the Kingston Public Hospital (KPH), told THE STAR she feels horrible about her mistake, but she has used it as a learning experience.

"From this experience, I have learned how to be obedient and take heed of what people say. Children should listen to their parents. If I had listened, I wouldn't be in this situation. If I could turn back the hands of time, I would," she said.

Thankfully, she has recovered from most of her injuries after undergoing multiple costly surgeries. Now, Coleman, who works as a chef in the public sector, is strapped for cash and simply cannot afford the $783,000 required to save her daughter's leg.

So far, she has exhausted all her financial resources and has gone to multiple money lending agencies but to no avail. She is now seeking the public's assistance for her daughter, but she does not want the public to regard her as a bad parent based on her daughter's mistake.

"When people look and see these situations dem think you careless as a parent, but that's not the case. I know I'm not careless, but at the end of the day, you can't always control what your children do, you can only hope they listen," she said.

Cavaughn is desperately pleading for assistance, as she said losing her leg would have a tragic impact on her. "Mi not even know how me woulda live. Maybe me woulda dead because me woulda fret everyday, especially knowing that if I had the money I wouldn't lose the leg," she lamented.

She was scheduled to undergo the surgery last week, but due to lack of funds, it has been postponed to tomorrow in hopes that she will garner enough funds by then. Anyone wishing to assist Cavaughn can contact her mother at 1-876-840-8463.