Man crippled by gunman’s bullet pens his story

“Gunman destroyed my life before I had a chance to dream what I would like to become,” said 38-year-old Kevin Robinson of Sevens Height in Clarendon.

Robinson was 16 years old when his body was crippled by bullets that pierced his back.

When The Gleaner visited his home, he recounted how he was caught in a crossfire in the volatile Greenwich Town community in Kingston in the December 1998 tragedy.

The unforgettable mishap which shattered his life unfolded on one of his visits to relatives.

“I was in Kingston spending some time with my brothers and gunmen come shoot up a community that I went to look for a friend. Me did a try run and realise me couldn’t move.”

The injury left him paralysed.

With an electric stove and bath close to his bed, Robinson is able to do some household chores including cooking.

Amid the challenges, Robinson maintains an optimistic outlook on life.

“Life, it hard sometimes,” he said, noting that it was determination that keeps him going when he remembered how he had lost the ability to walk at such a young age.

True Pain

Robinson is currently writing a book, True Pain – A real-life story, chronicling his journey. “Me reach a far way in the book, but me would like somebody fi help me finish it,” he said.

“Me nuh question God ‘cause me look on life in more than one way. Thinking of Granny, maybe if I was walking I wouldn’t take care of her and give her the close attention she getting now. Sometimes me think things happen for a wise purpose.”

Robinson lives with his 96-year-old grandmother, who cared for him from he was 10 months old.

He spoke feelingly about his grandmother, saying that his greatest fear was losing her. “Not even gunman me nuh fear. My fear is losing her,” he said.

Tanesha Hall, who lives near Robinson, has been assisting him with household chores. “Me nuh know what me would do if me never have me neighbour. One morning she come see the big pile of clothes that me wash and she start help me from then. Any time me wash me can barely feel me finger them,” he shared.

“Sometimes I cook for them and do little washing. Me see him a wash, but me nuh like when the water a spill underneath the bed, and me see like him tired, so me decide to take that away from him,” Hall told The Gleaner.

She lauded Robinson as an amicable person and counsellor.

“He is a very nice person and him always a counsel me,” she said.

Robinson is appealing to members of the public for assistance to purchase a motorised wheelchair. He can be contacted at 876-421-1882.