TWO boys from Pembroke Hall Primary School are counting their blessings after surviving a major accident that almost killed them a year ago.

On July 8 last year, Michael Campbell and André Clarke, both grade six students at the school, were hit off the sidewalk on Washington Boulevard and hurt to the point that onlookers thought they were dead.

When the Jamaica Observer spoke to the boys, only one, Clarke, could remember aspects of the day.

“We were going home from summer school and Michael stopped to buy ice cream. We got to the bus stop on the Boulevard and stood in the median waiting to cross to the other side. As we were about to cross, a green car swerved to avoid a head-on collision with a man who was breaking the stoplight and hit us off the median,” he said.

However, Clarke said that the man who hit them did not stop but luckily one of his community members who saw what happened got the vehicle’s registration number so that police could catch up with him.

But the accident caused the boys to be in and out of the hospital for six months and also wheelchair bound. According to teachers, with the Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) examinations drawing closer, the boys  developed a spirit of determination to sit their upcoming tests and be successful.

Both Clarke and Campbell agreed and said that throughout the time they requested that past papers and class activities be brought to them on their hospital bed for them to prepare.

When the GSAT results were made available both Campbell and Clarke passed for Ardenne High School, their first choice with averages of 97 and 95 per cent respectively.

Ingrid Foster, Campbell’s mother, said that the news of what happened to her son left her in a state of shock but she made sure to go the extra mile to help him prepare for his exams.

“I got the call from a parent while on my way from work when I heard he was in an accident and I almost fainted. When I heard he was at Kingston Public Hospital (KPH) and ok, I said ‘thank God’. When they transferred him to Children’s (Bustamante) Hospital I realised he would be ok. One of my church sisters would bring past papers for me and she lent me a GSAT game and I would go to the hospital and quiz him. I was contemplating making him repeat because he’s young but he was determined to do the exam and said he was ready, so I said ‘From you are ready I am ready also’,” Foster said.

Lesline Gordon, Clarke’s grandmother, said that she was in Old Harbour when she received the news and the only thing she could do was cry and ask God for a second chance.

“I cried and when I heard he was at ‘Public’ (KPH) I rushed there but I didn’t see him fully. When I got to children’s hospital and they pulled the bandage from off his foot I said “oh my God” the foot was badly damaged. His head was burst open, his mouth cut up and his foot… I couldn’t even look at it. I was worried he wouldn’t be able to walk again but I asked God for a second chance for him and I got it,” Gordon said.

Both guardians however said that Clarke was the stronger of the two as he would often touch his friend who lay beside him, telling him to wake up and not leave them.

Celia Ffrench, president of the school’s parents teachers association, said that the boys were her success stories and even outside of GSAT preparations they remained confident.

“They both had broken limbs and it never stopped them from keeping their dreams alive. Michael, being a member of the quiz team, never made the fact that he had to be in a wheelchair deter him from going to the studio and helping his school. The team never won the competition, but to the school family, we were winners,” Ffrench said.

 She added that the boys were a true testament to others, that giving up was not the final resort.

“When we are faced with obstacles it certainly does not mean that it’s the end of our dreams or we should give up on life. Michael and André could have given up because they were oftentimes in pain. But we say thank God for allowing them to survive the accident and to have done so well,” she said.

Norma McNeil, principal of the primary school, said that she was extremely proud of them and knew that if it were not for the circumstances they would have received scholarships.

“Since grade five we have been watching them, especially Michael. If it wasn’t for the accident they would have received a scholarship as they were very focused and they knew what they wanted,” McNeil said.

McNeil said that she was proud of the fact that he boys never threw in the towel.

“When I heard the news and heard that it was Michael and André I said, ‘my God’, and when I reached out there they said to me ‘bwoy miss I don’t think they can make it’. I said to myself ‘wow’. When I asked where they were they said they carried them to KPH and I called their parents and when I went to the hospital and saw them they were really badly damaged. To see them coming from so far and reach this level… they came back and just worked with the teachers and children and Michael got the top GSAT student for the school. Despite the odds, they never gave up,” she said.

She added that the level of confidence the boys displayed and the help they received from their peers was commendable.

“Even after the exams Michael had to go in and do a bone replacement and nothing deterred him. The children would push them around in the wheelchairs and help them out and I was just amazed at how confident they were and how the children really rallied around them,” she said.

Campbell, also deputy head boy of the institution, said that he was happy to be alive and offered words of encouragement to other children.

“I was once disabled and now I can do what I want to do. Nothing is impossible,” Campbell said.

Both parents offered to say thanks to the doctors and hospital staff at the Bustamante Hospital for Children, whom they said made the effort and stayed by their children’s side. They also thanked the school board and staff for their support.

In the future Campbell said that he would like to become a teacher while Clarke wants to become a pilot.

Though the boys will never be able to participate in any form of sporting activities or anything that will need much footwork, they are bent on inspiring others and making a difference wherever they go.