Paul H. Williams, Gleaner Writer

Hermon 'Bunny' McGregor using rope to make the back of a metal chair. - photo by paul williams

Can you imagine living in a world of bright techni-colours, but one day all you can see is red, then only white, and eventually only darkness? You probably can't, but Hermon 'Bunny' McGregor can. For, it is what happened to this native of Kingston, from 1971 to 1974, when his once colourful life gradually faded to black. It was the beginning of a poignant story of suffering, desperation and survival in the realms of blindness.

Bunny: "Yuh si when yuh lose yuh sight is a different world yuh gone inna yuh nuh. Yuh cyaan si, yuh cyaan work, yuh nuh know wha fi do, yuh become depress. Some people believe say when yuh blind yuh mustn't come near them, and draw away from yuh as if dem nuh want anything fi do wid yuh."

To fully understand how much blindness changed his life, rewind to a few years before 1971, and you see one of Jamaica's most famous poster and sign graphic artists toiling away under pressure to meet deadlines.

Promoters are depending on him to do lively and attractive dance and stage show posters. The last poster he did was to promote the 1973 crowning of Miss Red Stripe. Even the Government of the day heard of his skilful ways, and employed him to paint bus stop signs all over the Corporate Area.

The first sign of trouble came when he began to bump into people, utility poles and buildings. On the streets, drivers blared their horns at him.

Bunny: "You only find the place foggy for about five minutes, then it wear off, then two or three months after it come back again, it just gwaan and gwaan until it tek about a hour before it wear off."

The world was now a blurred place, so he sought medical attention. He was diagnosed with glaucoma. Objects near to him appeared to be far away. The objects became mere specks, which slowly disappeared. Bunny was now in a different world, a sightless one. That was August 1974.

He quickly accepted his lot, being the tough person he is.

To earn his keep, he worked in a record shop, but mounting bills and bad patronage caused that shop to close in June 1976. The next chapters of his life were a montage of hardship and frustration. Hunger, joblessness, rejection by some relatives and friends, and the inability to support his children and pay his bills drove him into serious bouts of depression, accompanied by massive weight loss.

Attempted suicide

Twice, he attempted to take his own life. Why? "Because mi nah work and mi a bear too much hunger, and mi nuh have nobody fi turn to, fah mi no have no big family. Mi whey want to get outta the misery," he explained.

It was antibiotics that he first tried. They were ineffective, so on the other occasion, he decided to drink eye drops, which he regarded as poisonous. But, when he tried to raise his hand to his mouth, his arm got stiff and just could not be moved.

Suddenly a light appeared in the expanse of darkness before him. He thought somebody was in the room, and called out. No answer came. He became agitated and began to frantically swipe his walking cane to and fro.

Bunny: "A lick, a lick, a lick, but a cyaan feel nobody, then mi just hear a voice say, 'O thou son of man, be still and know thyself. Think of what senseless act you are doing. Now go out and tell someone of your troubles'." He found a Christian woman and told her what had happened.

The tale of his life nearly turned tragic again when, in January 1981, while walking along Central Avenue, he was hit down and run over by a 'trailer-truck'. He sustained a broken hip and was bedridden for several weeks. It was another period of unadulterated pain and misery, as he worried about being blind and crippled at the same time.

Bunny: "A dat get me worse now, dem time dey, when mi fi turn, man, it tek mi 15 minutes fi lay dung pon mi belly, and the pain nuh trouble yuh until night."

In bed he was for several weeks, but he wasn't giving up. One Thursday night, he said, he heard a voice saying, "Keep moving, keep rolling". After many attempts, he was able to get out of bed by himself. His recovery surprised his doctors, as his injuries were severe. They have, however, left him somewhat misshapen.

But that accident wasn't Bunny's first. Flash back to 1956, to one of Bunny's childhood days' drama. Always stubborn, always determined, he disobeyed his father and went to the beach. Knowing full well that his father was not going to spare him the thick rubber strap made from tyre, he went to a gas station pipe to wash the evidence of his errant ways from his head.

Knocked unconscious

Nearby, there was a vicious fight. Two youths were tossing big stones at each other. Suddenly, there was a clunk!! A wayward stone had clouted Bunny on the right of his face knocking him unconscious. After three days of hospitalisation, he was sent home with a blind right eye. So, when he went blind in 1974, it was in the other eye. Reflecting on the 1956 incident, he said, "Mi did too stubborn, if mi did jus follow mi ole man advice, probably mi wouldn't lose mi sight."

After years of having no steady employment, he was trained by the Jamaica Society for the Blind in 1991 to use rope to make the back and seat of metal chairs. For a while now, he has been working at Creative Craft Plus, downtown Kingston, doing same.

To watch him work is a lesson in determination. He's very accurate and knows when he's out of sync with the patterns he's trying to create. His fingers are his eyes.

With his sight gone, his other senses are put to full use. He cooks, washes and presses for himself. Regarded as one of the fastest-walking blind persons in town, he attributed his keen sense of direction to having had to paint signs all over the Corporate Area.

To those who are on the verge of getting blind, he said, "Think positive, and don't think negative because mi use to go through that, all you have to do is have faith and put yuh trust in God." Therefore, to him the most important survival strategy for the visually impaired person is "not to let nothing trouble yuh, because it can cause you to become depress and, once yuh become depress, it can cause yuh to become angry wid yuhself."

This anger can come easily from frustration, especially at the attitude that some persons have towards visually impaired persons.

Bunny: "I jus want to be a normal person, but in Jamaica, once yuh blind, people feel say yuh dead to the world, yuh cyan duh nutten. Some section of the population dem jus feel say bwoy, chu yuh blind yuh fi jus tan a yuh yard, sidung and people jus bring food and ole clothes cum give yuh. Mi naah tolerate that. Mi want feed myself an look after myself."

paul.williams@gleanerjm.com