FOR some 40 years Frederick Smith has served Jamaica as a competitor and administrator in bodybuilding, working out in the gym to build the Grecian ideal of the human physique in the 1970s and 1980s and sharing his experiences with local muscle men of today.

Now the 67-year-old Smith, diagnosed with multiple myeloma (MM) three years ago, is fighting to stay alive as his body weakens and his bones become brittle.

At the University Hospital of the West Indies for three weeks, Smith had the joint at his left hip repositioned by means of a “traction to pull it back in place… so when they are ready to do the replacement it would be much easier to do,” he noted.

A three-time winner at the Central American and Caribbean Championships in the 1980s, Smith is seeking assistance with his medical bill.

With his faithful wife Doreth, son Kenrick, and daughter Sophia by his side, Smith summoned the courage to plead for help, with medications alone costing some $100,000 a month.

“I am feeling weaker and as you go along you realise it’s getting more and more serious because you’ve got to be coming into the clinic and buying medications almost weekly and monthly. It’s also a very expensive venture,” he added.

Smith noted that the time has come for him to give up the job as president of the Jamaica Bodybuilding and Fitness Association (JABBFA), and the person coming in “would have a lot to do, travelling around the island to organise from the gym level up”.

“You can’t stay one place, you have to be present in gyms, as in many of our competitions those wanting to participate say they have heard nothing about them,” Smith emphasised.

Smith started competing in 1969 at the age of 27, three years after he began training. His first international competition was the Mr World Championships in 1973 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

Smith was Junior Mr Jamaica in 1973, Mr Jamaica in 1975 (at a time when winners could not re-enter), and Mr Spartan in 1981.

He won the CAC Championships for the first time in 1981 in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and was declared the most muscular man in the region. He repeated CAC victories in 1983 in the Bahamas and 1984 in Jamaica.

During that time, he was doing double duties as he served as president of the Jamaica Bodybuilding Association from 1983 to 1985.

Smith stopped competing in 1987 and has been coaching since then.

“I just keep doing what I loved best,” said Smith, who was the informal national coach until the position became formalised in the 1990s.

MM, or cancer of the blood, affects more men than women and African Americans more than any other race. Treatment involves complex decisions but mainly to keep the disease in check by chemotherapy.

An eternal optimist, Smith hopes to get out of hospital early next year.