A life changed in a blink

What began as a simple attempt to pick ackees ended in catastrophe. Electrocuted by overhead power lines in Portmore, St Catherine, last January, Chace Singh lost both hands and feet and now needs $10 million to piece together a life altered in seconds.

On January 9, 2025, the 35-year-old Portmore resident was standing on a roof, preparing to pick ackees from a neighbour’s tree, when electricity surged through a metal-tipped stick he was holding. The current entered through his left hand, travelled through his body, and exited through his feet.

“I realised I couldn’t let go,” Chace recalled. “That’s when the fear set in. I thought, probably this is it.”

Neighbours responded within seconds, calling out and rushing to his aid. He was first taken to Spanish Town Hospital, then transferred to the Kingston Public Hospital burn unit, where he spent just over a month undergoing treatment and surgeries. Doctors attempted to save his limbs, but the damage was too extensive.

A year later, Chace is still having his wounds dressed daily. Some areas have healed slowly; others remain raw. Severe burns affected not only his limbs, but also his back, requiring constant care to prevent infection.

Once active and independent, he is now completely dependent on others for the most basic tasks – eating, bathing, and using the bathroom.

“It’s the basics,” he said quietly in an interview with The Gleaner. “Things people don’t even think about.”

During the interview, Singh broke down in tears several times; overwhelmed by the scale of what had been taken from him in seconds: his independence, his livelihood, his sense of self. The grief was raw and unresolved, surfacing in long silences and quiet sobs that underscored the reality he now lives with every day.

Now residing with his mother, Bridgette Samuels Johnson, in Trelawny, Singh is confronting not only the physical aftermath of the accident, but the emotional toll of starting life over entirely – dependent on others for care, uncertain about his future, and struggling to reconcile who he was with who he must now become.

THE AFTERMATH

Psychologically, the adjustment has been immense. Phantom pains still come and go – moments when he feels hands and feet that are no longer there. The pain, he explains, switches on and off, mentally and physically.

Asked if he has ever wondered why this happened to him, Singh pauses.

“There’s not much to elaborate on,” he said. “Why me?”

A Portmore native, Singh attended Meadowbrook High School, where football played a central role in his life. A striker, he was the one expected to score – the forward, the finisher.

“That was my role,” he said.

Former classmates have since reached out, offering what support they can. It has reminded him that while his body has changed, parts of his past life still remain.

What he wants now is simple.

“Just to get back some level of independence,” Singh said. “That’s it.”

He spends his days doing physiotherapy – strengthening his core, learning balance, and preparing his body for prosthetics. With sufficient funding, that process could begin as early as July.

Without it, progress stalls.

At the centre of Singh’s care is his mother, Samuels Johnson.

“It is heartrending,” she said. “As a person, and as a mother, your heart breaks every single day.”

The physical toll of caregiving has been severe. The constant lifting and bending left Samuels Johnson herself in physiotherapy after developing serious back problems. Doctors advised her to raise her son’s bed to reduce strain.

“I had to explain to him that he is not a burden to me,” she said. “He never was. He never will be. It is a privilege to take care of him.”

SUPPORT

Her days begin before dawn – bathing him, dressing him, preparing meals, transporting him, then heading to work, before returning home to repeat the routine. An accounting officer at the Discovery Bay Marine Laboratory, she credits her dedicated husband and colleagues for their support and flexibility.

At home, she tries to preserve the life her son had before the accident. Singh is vegan, and she has learnt new culinary skills to prepare his meals. He dislikes the wheelchair, though he uses it when necessary.

“When he cries, it breaks me,” she said. “He doesn’t do it often. But when he does, he lets it all out. Then we’re okay for a couple of months.”

Doctors referred the family to Surgix, one of the few facilities in Jamaica providing advanced prosthetic services. The estimated cost to restore a measure of independence is approximately $10 million.

The breakdown includes two prosthetic legs, a functional prosthetic arm, and physiotherapy, described to the family as lifelong care. Finding the funds remains far beyond the family’s reach.

Without health insurance, Samuels Johnson pays for medications and wound care out of pocket. Funds sent by friends and relatives often go straight from Western Union to the pharmacy. A GoFundMe effort has brought limited relief, and while registration with the Jamaica Council for Persons with Disabilities has helped, the road ahead remains steep.

For Samuels Johnson and her husband, the goal is not perfection, it is dignity.

“If he can eat by himself,” she said. “If he can use the bathroom by himself. If he can live with some independence; that is everything.”

janet.silvera@gleanerjm.com

How you can help

If you are able to assist Chace Singh, make a donation at https://gofund.me/fa3b2c5b4