Help me, please
April 23, 2019Adrian Gillespie, 26, recently opened a bank account and is seeking public help to raise one million Jamaican dollars for a surgery scheduled to be done on May 25 at the University Hospital of the West Indies.
He is a hard worker who, despite being battered by sickle cell disease, was able to eke out a living, using the welding skills he learned at Kellits High School in Clarendon. However, since December last year, the disease has taken a more serious toll on his body, making him unable to work – unable to fund his surgery.
“Sometimes I lay down and can’t even get up; the pain is really bad,” the Croft’s Hill resident said, adding: “This illness is only getting worse and worse everyday.”
Without the surgery, Adrian’s sickle cell pains will become more chronic, and he may never be able to again live his passion as a welder.
The youngster, whose younger brother Kevin Gillespie died of sickle cell disease last year, is trying hard to keep hope alive.
He stated that he appreciates the responses received when The Beacon first reported his family’s plight in March this year. However, he did not have a bank account to receive the all-important monetary assistance.
With the deadline to pay for the surgery fast approaching, the youngster recently opened an account in the name ADRIAN GILLESPIE at the National Commercial Bank – Linstead branch in St Catherine.
His ACCOUNT NUMBER is 684-388-436; his telephone number is 876-404-6421.
“I am kindly asking for some help to do the surgery next month,” Adrian said in a tone that bares his mental worry. “I am asking for this help because I am in a lot of pain and time is running out.”
Adrian Gillespie, in happier times, strikes a pose with some of his welding projects. 
Meanwhile, sickle cell disease is an inherited disorder that affects red blood cells, which carry oxygen throughout the body. Some effects may include swelling of the hands and feet, episodes of severe pain, and damage to organs.
Adrian’s problems worsened in November last year when he was diagnosed with avascular necrosis – a condition in which poor blood supply to an area of bone leads to bone death.
His right hip is now badly fractured. That’s the reason doctors have recommended that he undergoes surgery no later than 25 May 2019.
By Horace Mills, Journalist
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