MONTEGO BAY, St James — The many cries from Lester Witter for assistance in getting a prosthetic leg have not been heard.

The 72-year-old resident of Flanker in this western Jamaica city said that for the past three years he has been appealing to individuals and companies in and around St James for assistance to get a leg, but to no avail.

According to Witter, he took up residence in the parish of St James in the early 1970s and soon gained employment at a hotel as a chef.

Years later, he left the hotel and started to operate a taxi, plying the Flanker to Montego Bay and Catherine Hall to Montego Freeport routes.

Some time later, Witter said he lost his right leg due to diabetes, noting that since then, “all the people I have helped during my heydays have now neglected me”.

He added that his leg was amputated at hospital, where he spent three weeks.

Witter now sells newspapers along a section of St James Street in Montego Bay in an attempt to eke out a living.

“At the moment I earn $500.00 per day, but that is not enough to help me. I wish someone could help me out with a cork foot [prosthetic leg] so I can try and get a taxi work,” said an unhappy Witter.

— Alan Lewin