Jessie Simpson (Image Credit: Daniela Ginta)

By Daniela Ginta

The Way I See It

GINTA: We must be there for those who cannot afford to say ‘I’m tired’

Nov 16, 2020 | 2:45 PM

IT’S TWO YEARS THIS NOVEMBER since I first met Jessie Simpson. I remember entering his room at the long-term care facility, wondering how it would go.

Well, it was smiles all around because Jessie smiles a lot. For someone who has been through so much since he was savagely attacked and beaten up with a baseball bat in June, 2016, which left him in a coma due to traumatic brain injury for which he now requires 24-hour care, Jessie is the opposite of what you’d expect. Every time I went to see him for our weekly hangout, he never complained of anything.

Last I saw him was in July when we celebrated his birthday outside the care home — from a distance. Friends outside the fence sang ‘Happy Birthday’ and Jessie kept saying ,‘This is the best day of my life. I’m so happy I’m gonna cry.’ I got teary, and so did others who were gathered there. I teared up because I knew he had happier days.

But happiness has a different flavour now for Jessie and his mom, Sue. Happiness is securing a plane ride to Vancouver for a kidney surgery because a drive would be exhausting and painful for Jessie; working hard at renovating so that Jessie could go home in July, 2021; calling to say goodnight on the days she cannot see him.

Before the pandemic, she’d go visit and take roses to him because that’s his favourite and she used to tuck him in whenever she could.

1000 Ways to Heal

1000 Ways to Heal: Moons

Dec 10, 2024

Question of the Week

Should Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson apologize or resign after it was found he breached a section of council's code of conduct for allowing false or misleading information to be communicated?

Dec 09, 2024

One Man's Opinion

COLLINS: Donald has it wrong - again

Dec 08, 2024

Happiness now is seeing Jessie for half an hour each week. As I write this, there is news of an outbreak at the care home where Jessie is, so that meager half-hour is on hold. The risk of Jessie contracting COVID is high due to his depressed immune system, but all Sue can do is pray that he is safe.

Please send a prayer for Jessie and others who are at risk — every thought matters.

You may wonder how his mom finds the strength to keep going. I do, too.

“I don’t think of what’s behind us because that is too sad. I think of today and of trying my best to make his life better,” is what she always says.

They were both prepared to go to Vancouver for kidney surgery on November 9, but a setback has them waiting until the 30^th. That plan that might be derailed yet by the recent COVID case in the care home. She is not giving up though.

Her dream to bring Jessie home by next July is as daunting as it is wonderful. Yet grace and strength alone will not do it.

Our Kamloops community has been generous time and time again toward Jessie and his mom, and these are tough times for many. But let’s offer help once again — those of us who can.

As the dream of having her son home is getting more real, the list of necessities grows as well. The list is anything but short: diapers, clothes, shelves, bedding, blood pressure monitor, thermometer, rubber sheets, screen, a freezer, railing and a wheelchair ramp. Also, doors need to be widened. Local businesses have been donating materials and work, too, which has so far translated into a new deck and a finished living room floor which Sue is ecstatic about.

She dreams of a small firepit which may not seem like a necessity but Jessie really wants to be roasting hot dogs, and for her that’s reason enough.

If you would like to help Jessie and his mom manage the surgery trip expenses and also get all they need for him to get home in time for his next (July) birthday, please follow this link.

Also, if you are a local business that might he able to help with items on the necessities list, please reach out to Sue via the link above.

Every little bit counts — and kindness counts most of all. Being kind requires so little but builds mountains of hope, especially for people like Sue who cannot afford to stop hoping.

——

Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or the Jim Pattison Broadcast Group.