Athaliah Reynolds, Staff Reporter

FIFTY-TWO-YEAR-OLD Eric Nembhard has no hands, but that has not stopped him from living a full life.

Nearly 15 years ago, the former Jamaica Public Service Company contractor had an unfortunate accident while on the job.

According to Nembhard, he was on top a light post in Mavis Bank, St Andrew, attempting to fix a broken transformer when he was electrocuted.

"It was 13,800 volts. It just burn through the gloves and burn up my hands. The doctors said 80 per cent of my hands got burn.

Nevertheless, Nembhard said he was expecting to lose his fingers but never imagined the doctors would cut off his two hands.

He said after about five days in the University Hospital of the West Indies, his hands became severely infected. "All maggot them have to take out of them. The doctors had to operate and cut them off," he told The Sunday Gleaner.

Nembhard said his first few months were difficult because he had always been an independent person, never accustomed to relying on anyone, especially to do simple tasks, like eating and bathing.

"I'm not a man who like to sit around and depend on anybody," he said. "I like to keep busy and do things for myself."

With this determination, Nembhard has learned to use just the stumps of his arms to do his daily tasks.

When The Sunday Gleaner arrived at his home in the Glendale Housing Scheme off Molynes Road recently, the team watched in amazement as he worked in his garden. Shovelling, harvesting and planting his cucumbers, peppers and sorrel - all this with no hands!

He also cooks, washes, bathes himself, cleans his home, opens his locks, and dials numbers on his cellphones with the same dexterity and ease of most able-bodied persons.

Nembhard brags that there is hardly anything he is not able to do, except maybe drive or climb a tree.

"I think maybe if I set my mind to driving again I could do it, but they wouldn't want to give me the licence," he said.

Shortly after the accident, he travelled to the United States where he had custom-made prosthesis hands designed, but the father of two adult daughters says he hardly uses them.

He complained that the fake hands slowed him down, because they were heavy and tight and made him feel uncomfortable.

Nembhard said he strongly believed that life was much easier and enjoyable when people remained positive and thankful. Because of this outlook, he hardly complains or worries about his condition.

Why cry over spilt milk?

"I don't worry about my situation," he said. "Why cry over spilt milk? It done gone already. Just make the best of what you have."

He admitted, however, that his heart became heavy when he thought about the many young men across the country who failed to make good use of the hands with which God had blessed them.

"It burn mi heart, man, to see how many young people just sit on the street side day in and day out, with nothing to do. It is a sin," he said.

athaliah.reynolds@gleanerjm.com