PROF JOHN GOLDING

By Michael Abrahams

While speaking at a political conference last Sunday evening, the Jamaica Labour Party's Everald Warmington delivered an incendiary, racially charged tirade against the People's National Party's leader, Mark Golding, solely based on his ethnicity. Even though Golding was born in Jamaica, Warmington dragged his parents into the fray, asking, “Wey Mark Golding mother and father come from? A white man … from England,” adding, “Wey fi dem leader come from? Backra master.”

The reference to Golding's parents in Warmington's diatribe got me thinking about his father. Yes, he was white and hailed from England, but his contributions to our predominantly black country are immeasurable

Therefore, newspaper reporters are trained to write in inverted pyramid style, with all the most important information in the first paragraph or two. If the less vital details are pushed towards the end of the story, then the potentially destructive impact of draconian copy editing will be minimized.

John Simon Rawso

April 15, 1921, and training in England senior lecturer in o opened University now known as the Indies. Six months experienced its firs viral infection takin

1,500 people with

Amid this crisis, Go treating polio patie travelling to visit a disease at their ho U d d b h

Holisticapproach

Realising the devastating physical, mental and social sequelae of the disease, he aggressively adopted and executed a holistic approach to managing the disaster. He promptly set up a rehabilitation unit in an abandoned drama theatre, establishing the Polio Rehabilitation Centre When the epidemic subsided, the unit was renamed the Mona Rehabilitation Centre (and later Sir John Golding Rehabilitation Centre), catering to polio survivors and those with physical disabilities from congenital, traumatic, infectious, and other causes. The centre filled a gaping void and served not only Jamaica, but also the remainder of the English-speaking Caribbean. Professor Golding also helped establish Coconut Park, an amusement park at Hope Gardens, which provided income for disabled persons and helped generate revenue for Mona Rehab. In addition, to maximise the care of the disabled, he established the School of Physical Therapy and an orthotics and prosthetics workshop.

But this was just the beginning. Continuing on his holistic pathway to manage mind, body and spirit, Sir John realised that caring for patients and assisting them to mobilise in the limited setting of an institution was insufficient It was also necessary to reintegrate them into society to maximise their social well-being, which is a crucial component of health, and his actions reflected this. For example, understanding the importance of the disabled engaging in sporting activities, he formed the Jamaica Paraplegic Association.

He was also instrumental in setting up the 1966 Commonwealth Paraplegic Games in Jamaica Along with Jamaican Olympian Dr Arthur Wint, he also initiated the Jamaica Sports Medicine Association, providing voluntary support for Jamaican athletes

Recognising the need for the disabled to be educated, he subsequently founded the Hope Valley Experimental School. The institution, a primary school built on the grounds adjacent to the centre, is the first school in the Caribbean to integrate disabled and normally able children

Also, being aware of the continued needs of patients who leave the centre, and the shortage of housing for the disabled in Jamaica, especially for those dependent on crutches or wheelchairs, he built the Cheshire Village, an integrated community of 21 housing units. The community houses both able-bodied and disabled expatients, with the idea that the former would assist the latter when necessary The centre also has a business arm, Monex, which the Mona Rehabilitation Foundation administers, providing jobs for the disabled through various projects, facilitating the transition of its participants into the outside working world