AS the work on the perimeter wall of the Central Village Community Centre in Spanish Town proceeded recently, Davion Guthrie was assigned to mixing cement, sieving sand and even pushing the wheel barrow.

There is nothing remarkable about these tasks, but Guthrie has only one leg.

“I was here one day when I told them I could work. They said no, I could not manage. I said I can manage,” he said.

The supervisor who he had approached finally yielded to persuasion and gave him a shovel, telling him to mix the cement. He did. After that he was also given a variety of other tasks.

He more than proved his mettle.

Neville Williams, Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF) site coordinator, remembers Guthrie as an exceptional construction worker. The Central Village project is being pursued by JSIF through its Inner City Basic Services Project.

“He was a very good worker. That guy impresses me so much I wish I could do something for him. Trust me,” Williams said.

Mona Sue Ho, social development manager with JSIF, noted that the organization promotes non-discrimination in employment and encourages its contractors to do likewise.

“All persons deserve the opportunity to earn a livelihood whether they are disabled or not,” she said.

“Davion makes us re-examine our assumptions about the effectiveness of disabled persons in the work force.”

Losing his leg at thirteen has not made Guthrie incapable of work, but many still believe that he can do nothing – a big problem for the 20 year old.

He recalled the painful way in which he lost his limbs.

“I was coming from school one day when I was 13. I heard shooting which I did not pay any mind. But then I saw a car running off the road. I was on the sidewalk with a little girl and a little boy. The car was out of control. I dived into a shop, but my leg was still outside. The car took it off. The little girl died. The little boy was crippled.”

He spent one year and eight months in and out of hospital. He never went back to school.

With the help of RBTT, he got a prosthetic leg which he has since outgrown so he gets around on crutches and on his bicycle which he manoeuvres as well as any two footed Jamaican.

The loss of his leg, he said, “has slowed me down very badly. Things I used to do, I can’t do anymore — like washing my clothes, lifting loads and even some jobs. More time when I see my friends playing football it grieves me. I was a great baller. I love the sport.”

Guthrie worked on the community centre project for four weeks and said he is ready for anything.

But truthfully he yearns for football.

“I would go and represent my country at football. I still play the ball same way. When people see me playing, they say, ‘youth, you should represent your country’. Even cricket I play with my one foot.”

He also has other dreams which some might call more realistic. He has little in the way of certification, having dropped out of school at age 13, but he believes that he has the ability to operate a barbershop.

“I can line up and trim. I would like to do something that takes business skills,” he said.

He believes that if he gets a properly fitted leg at this time it would also improve his prospects in many areas of life.