Daraine Luton, Staff Reporter

Young Oshane Christie (right) poses with his brother, Larenzo (second right), sister, Laneva (second left), and neighbour, AJ, in a yard in Parry Town, St Ann. - Norman Grindley/Deputy Chief Photographer

OSHANE CHRISTIE is 10 years old. He walks and laughs and even throws stones; not quite like everyone else though - because he is different.

He has never talked and has never been to school and his mother has all but given up on helping him live as normal a life as possible.

"There are times when my eyes would be filled with tears," Althea Gordon, Oshane's mother, told The Gleaner.

Gordon said she has "tried everything, been everywhere but can't get help for him".

"I want to get him in a school," Gordon said.

She told The Gleaner that whenever Oshane's brothers and sisters are getting ready for school in the morning, the young boy would look at her as if to ask what about him.

"Sometime tears full up him eyes and I cry too," she told The Gleaner.

Oshane lives with his mother, stepfather and brothers and sisters in Parry Town, Ocho Rios, St Ann. The family may have been lucky to have not been adversely affected by flood waters that rushed through their community last week, destroying homes and wrecking roads and other infrastructure. Luck, however, has not always been on the boy's side.

Gordon said Oshane was admitted to the Bustamante Hospital for Children one week after he was born. She said that at the time, her son had a little pimple on his chest and he was treated for it.

Slow start

Oshane's growth, however, did not follow that of a normal child. His mother said that at four months old, she recognised that the baby was unable to roll over. He did not start walking until he was two years old and it was not until he was seven that he stopped wearing diapers.

Gordon says that despite visiting a number of doctors since her son's birth, no one has yet been able to diagnose his condition. She said, however, that one doctor has given her the assurance that the boy has not suffered brain damage.

Gordon has taken Oshane to the Mico Care Centre where he was assessed and referred to St Christopher's School for the Deaf in St Ann as well as the Sunshine School of Hope. She has not had luck in getting the young boy enrolled at either institution and has been unable to find a school willing to assist in making her son's life better.

daraine.luton@gleanerjm.com