AFTER THREE MONTHS of rehabilitation therapy, 16-year-old Ikhari Hinds-Lewis is progressing well after being injured in an accident in Barbados, and his mother Kassim Hinds is pleased.
Ikhari was born in the United States to Barbadian-born, New York-based Kassim.
He visited the island last January 17 with his family to attend the funeral of his grandmother, but minutes after he arrived at the Checker Hall, St Lucy family home, he was involved in a collision with a car and suffered a brain injury. He also sustained a broken right arm.
He spent almost two weeks in a medically induced coma in the Intensive Care Unit of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
Ikhari, who returned to New York on March 25, has been receiving rehabilitation as an outpatient at New York University Langone Medical Centre.
“It’s a tedious process of multiple appointments for physical therapy and speech therapy, and other neurological testing and evaluations,” Kassim said.
She said Ikhari was now walking on his own, although there was some weakness on his left side.
“He’s learning strategies for word finding, as he sometimes forgets names of common objects,” she added.
With regard to her son’s schooling, Kassim said he had received some home instruction from the New York City Department of Education and sat his state exams at home recently.
She said that since their return to New York, the family had to do a lot of adjusting, but were glad to have Ikhari on the road to recovery.
“It’s still hard to believe sometimes when I look back over the events since January 17. It’s been a rough year but it has made us all stronger,” Kassim said.
She gave thanks to all who supported the Go Fund Me account and said it had surpassed the target of US$10 000.
“It has been very helpful in meeting expenses while I am out of work,” she said.
Kassim, who had to stay in Barbados for an extended period, is now out of work, but is hoping to find employment soon. (LK)
