KINGSTON, Jamaica — West Indies cricketer Marlon Samuels today made a presentation of $1.5 million to Jamaica Society to the Blind (JSB) through his Marlon Samuels Foundation.

In addition to that donation, Samuels also presented $350, 000 to a visually impaired student from Church’s Teacher’s College.

According to a release today, the presentations were made at a press conference at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel in Kingston today, with Executive Director of JSB, Lola Marson receiving on behalf of her society. 

The society focuses on helping blind individuals adjust to their condition, lead productive lives and encourage, through public education, better eye care among the sighted. JSB programmes and services include vision testing, rehabilitation, instruction, and public education. 

Church’s Teacher’s College student, Garfield Mitchell was the recipient of Samuels’ other donation. Mitchell, who Samuels learned about in the media, had difficulty paying his tuition at the tertiary institution.

Samuels has lent his support to the blind community since 2013 when he suffered an eye injury while playing for Melbourne Renegades in the Australian Big Bash Twenty20 tournament, which left him domiciled to his hotel room and unable to see for two weeks.

“Well the urge for this is definitely two weeks of closing my left eye and not being able to see anything out of my right eye. It was total darkness, so I can imagine what they are going through for their entire life being like that,” he said.

The Jamaican cricketer added: “Visual impairment has been a long-standing reality in the Jamaican society. JSB, through its service offerings and education, has really been doing a great job and I would recommend genuine investment in this organisation”.

According to the release, the funds were raised through pledges made by friends of Samuels, including Cricket World Cup 2007 CEO Chris Dehring and Samuel’s Pakistan Super League team owner, Javed Afridi.