Mom seeks help for son injured in road crash

If love could resuscitate Kemeish Barr, then his mother, Simone Dodds, believes the 17-year-old would not only recover, but he would be thriving.

Barr, a sixth-form student at Jamaica College was injured in a car accident last December and has been in critical condition in hospital since. According to the police, the vehicle in which Bar was travelling got out of control and crashed on Constant Spring Road. One person died, and six others were injured. Dodds said that Barr attended a barbecue, and he and some friends were driving to get food. She said her son, who is the only one who is still hospitalised, was seated behind the front passenger seat. Contrary to reports, Dodds said he was not driving the vehicle.

"I think my son has been through enough from ICU [intensive care unit] to the ward to have this restraint over him that he was driving the vehicle when it was not him driving the vehicle. It's unfair to him to have that burden on his head, and to even the family," she said, adding that Barr does not possess a driver's licence. Dodds said she was initially told by doctors that he was brain dead, but over the last two months, his condition has improved.

"It's nobody, but God that saved that young man because when I look at the car and see the damage that the car got ... I just have to give God thanks. His doctor told me that he won't make it, and even if he make it he would be paralysed," she said, "They say the scale for full recovery is from one to 15. The last time, maybe three weeks now I heard that he was at 11."

The optimistic mother said that she prays consistently and is relying on her faith to see Barr through.

"I don't even question 'why him?' because if it wasn't him, it would be somebody else's child, and I don't wish bad on anyone. I just pray about the situation," she said. Describing her son as being kind, helpful and an aspiring businessman, Dodds, who is a certified nursing assistant in the US, said the cost of his care is expensive.

"This is costing me a lot because I have to be back and forth. Every other week I have to be flying down. I have to be buying diapers, wipes, air mattress, everything, stuff to prevent bed sores," she said. She has been looking into taking him overseas for care, and has created a GoFundMe campaign to help offset the cost. She has since raised US $10,000 (approximately $1.5 million) of the $150,000 (approximately $23 million) goal.

"He's gonna need a lot of physiotherapy and stuff like like, speech therapy ... there's a lot," she said. "Kemeish willing to help anybody so I know if you help him, he will definitely come round and help somebody else. He's a role model, even to me. I look up to him even though he's my son," she said.

Since the start of 2023, 40 lives have been lost in 38 collisions with males accounting for 90 per cent of that figure. According to the United Nations, each year over 1.3 billion people die globally in road crashes with low to middle income countries, including Jamaica, accounting for 90 per cent of this figure. It noted that road traffic crashes are also the leading killer of children and young people aged five to 29worldwide.

People wishing to assist Kemeish Barr can visit the GoFundMe campaign page at https://gofund.me/bbf9d8ea