Keisha Hill, Staff Reporter

A policeman at the site where a Jamaica Defence Force jeep and a Jamaica Urban Transit Company bus collided on the Washington Boulevard, St Andrew. - Norman Grindley/Acting Photography Editor

Enthrose Campbell is thankful she survived to tell the tale of a devastating hit-and-run accident.

In October 1991, little did Campbell know that her life would take a dramatic turn. In an interview with The Gleaner, Campbell, then a teacher at Wolmer's Girls' School, recounted the day a parent gave her a ride home which led to an unexpected journey spanning all of 17 years.

"I was living in Duhaney Park at the time. Within minutes of picking me up, the accident happened. We were heading towards Three Miles and the other person was on the other side of the dual carriageway. His car crossed the traffic island and slammed right into us," Campbell said.

After being unconscious for many hours, she awakened to the harsh reality that she could lose her right leg and perhaps never walk again. Her right hip was crushed. It would take several surgeries for any hope of recovery.

After coming to terms with the physical effects, Campbell also had to deal with the emotional pain.

Good Samaritan

Her voice held back no emotion when she stated that passers-by had given her over for dead as her body lay sprawled at the site. A good Samaritan came to her aid and rushed her to the hospital.

"There was a man who was passing by, stopped his car and took me to the hospital. He did not know me but stayed until I regained consciousness. He just was excellent.

"Later, he told me that everybody thought I was dead. So, they just went about their business but he said he knelt over, heard me groaning and helped," Campbell said.

For three weeks she lay in a hospital bed awaiting the first of several surgeries. In immense pain and anguish, she transferred to a private hospital, with the hope of quickly undergoing surgery.

"My hip was crushed. The bone was severed and the hip joints were damaged. The doctors tried corrective surgery and because I was 31 years old, they did not want to put in a prosthetic hip," she said.

After 14 hours in the operating theatre, Campbell received heart-rending news: the surgery was unsuccessful and she would have to move around on crutches for support.

Still resilient, she continued teaching and went about her daily activities. However, after one year, healing of her hip was slow and she had no choice but to undergo a second corrective surgery. This procedure also failed.

In 1993, the doctors decided they would install a prosthetic hip. But when the time came, they held back again.

"They did the surgery again, thinking there was still a chance that my hip would heal on its own. The doctors were really trying their best. This still did not work and after a few months we put the prosthesis in," she said.

Successful surgery

Though exhausted after four attempts, Campbell could again walk without the aid of crutches. A physical education specialist at the time of the accident, she was happy that the surgery was successful and that she could be more active again.

Despite the success, she still faced extremely high medical bills which her health insurance scarcely covered.

"I went ahead and studied, changed my job, and had lots of jobs after that. My funds were being depled and these surgeries were not cheap. The first set of four surgeries and therapy cost me over $1.5 million," she said.

Campbell began working at the Jamaica Information Service in 1996 and rose to the position of manager of the Radio Department. She remained focused and, with the help and support of her family and friends, began to put the ordeal behind her.

However, the headache returned again in 2002 with a second set of surgeries. "I began to feel tremendous pain. You would not begin to imagine the kind of pain. And I was like, God, this is not happening. I went to the doctor and the dreaded truth came out. The prosthesis had slipped and I had to undergo yet another surgery," Campbell said.

The previous prosthesis, made from plastic and metal, had eroded. She attributed this to her active regimen.

"I wasn't told I wasn't to do all these physical activities and I wasn't feeling any pain before then," she said.

Doctors sceptical

Following two additional surgeries, Campbell states that she is walking well now and is free of pain. But the doctors are sceptical and have warned her that she should brace herself for more surgeries if problems occur with the replacement hip.

"I pray to God that is not so. I cannot begin to think how much it is going to cost, plus the physical and emotional pain I will have to endure again," she said.

"Seventeen years later, it is still fresh in my mind and in the minds of my relatives who cared for me.

keisha.hill@gleanerjm.com