10 months in pain

Ralston Thomas has spent 10 months and 21 days waiting for surgery to repair a fractured right femur caused by a car accident on Oct. 16, 2025. The 52-year-old says he already paid for the tools needed for the operation, but doctors postponed the procedure twice.

Thomas told the Jamaica Observer that one scheduled operation was delayed because the machine required for it had broken down. Later, he was told the machine was working again, but his case was not considered urgent enough to move ahead of other patients. At the same time, doctors continued describing his injury as complicated and requiring attention.

After the December postponement, Thomas moved to the Spanish Town Infirmary because he had no one at home to care for him. His relatives live overseas. He says each clinic visit brings another delay and a different explanation. “They just have me all around the corner, and I don’t know why,” he said, after learning that patients who arrived later had received their operations.

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They just have me all around the corner, and I don’t know why.

Thomas said staff told him to return on July 3, 2026 to receive a surgery date and prepare for admission. When he returned, however, the hospital could not admit him because beds were full, one machine was working and emergency cases were arriving. He was told his case was an emergency, but other patients were considered more urgent because they had been in the hospital longer.

He returned to the clinic on Aug. 28 and received another six-week appointment. A metal rod has been placed in his leg while he waits. Thomas said his family raised 187,000 Jamaican dollars through GoFundMe after being told he urgently needed surgery. “Every time I go I see a different doctor and dem a tell mi seh my foot a go take a long time to heal,” he said.

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Every time I go I see a different doctor and dem a tell mi seh my foot a go take a long time to heal.