Yanick’s happy to get a part of his life back

Seventeen-year-old Yanick Charles is singing the praises of the Chauncey Methodist Youth Fellowship Group for making it possible for him to continue his education.

“A part of my life that I have missed out on…has been brought back!”

The Chauncey teen has not attended school since 2010, when he fell from a mango tree and was paralyzed from the waist down.

He previously attended the St Martin’s Secondary School and had attempted to resume his education after the accident at the Buccament Bay Secondary School, but this was aborted after he developed certain medical complications.

Around the middle of last month, the youth fellowship group, on the suggestion of group member Chelsea Comas, visited Yanick as part of an outreach programme in which they visit shut-ins.

Following the visit, the group, whose adult leaders are Carleen Heather Marshall and Luciene Quow, decided they would try to assist him to continue his education.

The young members of the group told SEARCHLIGHT that they were moved by his story and hope through their efforts to enrich his life, help him get a secondary school education and hopefully assist in making him feeling better about himself.

“We don’t want him in the house just because he is in a wheelchair.”

They have enrolled him in online Math classes and are currently searching for an English tutor, with a view to getting him ready for the Caribbean Certificate of Secondary Level Competence (CCSLC) exam next year.

Speaking with SEARCHLIGHT, Yanick said so far, he is enjoying the classes that begin every weeknight at 7:30.

So far, the group has taken Yanick to Rik’s pizza and is planning an 18th birthday party for him on November 28. The excited youngsters are asking for donations to help purchase an X-Box to bring joy to the young man. According to them, Yanick loves information technology and they hope he would he will find a job in that field.

The group has also set its sights on acquiring an exoskeleton for the teenager and are soliciting donations to go towards this purchase.

“He is our baby,” Marshall said, adding that they have, in a sense, adopted Yanick, although they have only recently started conducting visits.

The group members say they can tell that they are making a difference in his life, as he does not go out a lot and he enjoys interacting with them.

“I would like to thank them for taking me out and Ms Heather Marshall for setting up this class for me,” Yanick told SEARCHLIGHT.