MONTEGO BAY, St James —Three years ago, then Lance Corporal Ferdinand Trench stood tall as he collected a Medal of Honour for Gallantry as his efforts in saving the life of a man who fell down a precipice along the Junction main road was being nationally recognised.

Little did Trench know that his decorated career in the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) would soon be cut short as he learned that his multiple diagnoses of lupus and kidney disease deemed him unfit for the job of a military man.

Trench told the Jamaica Observer that he fondly remembers the events leading up to him rescuing the man along the main road in St Mary. This was in 2011, and he was a 26-year-old private in the JDF.

“I was making my way from Portland to Kingston and on reaching a section of the roadway in Junction, I heard some screams below the road. When I investigated, I realised that somebody had fallen over, so I just got some resources like rope and flashlight then made my way down,” Trench recounted.

“I was able to pull off a rescue with the help of two other people and the guy was rushed to the hospital. He had some fractured ribs, but he survived, and we have been good friends ever since,” he said.

Five years later, Trench’s life changed as he learned that he needed assistance. Unlike the man he saved, Trench’s help would come through the medical sector and as the years went by, he began making frequent trips to multiple health facilities.

However, Trench said that he was still fully committed to executing his duties as an electrical engineer and driver in the JDF as he was living his childhood dream of enlisting his services to the Jamaican Government.

“Since a child, I have always had the desire to be a part of the military. Soldiers used to train on a property that my grandfather owns in Hanover, so I would always watch them. I could have become a police officer, but there was just something about the military that spoke volumes,” he explained.

“In 2015, I found out that I was sick with my kidneys, and I was getting some treatment. My lupus diagnosis was in about 2016. However, my sickness took a bad turn and in 2020, I had to start doing dialysis,” he told the Sunday Observer.

“When I started doing dialysis, it was at the University Hospital of the West Indies, and I was still able to work, so I would do my treatment in the days and go to work right after. I was then transferred to Montego Bay, so I began doing my treatments there. I was very effective in what I was doing, though I was getting treatment,” Trench added, noting that these treatments were being paid for by the JDF.

After contracting COVID-19 and subsequently being placed in a medically-induced coma in late 2021 during vacation overseas where he went to visit family members, Trench would wake up months later to the worst news of his life. He told the Sunday Observer that this was when he realised that his dream of retiring as a decorated military man was shattered.

He said he learned that his services were no longer needed and that his contract will not be renewed by the JDF.

“Unfortunately, I contracted COVID which landed me in the hospital. I ended up in the ICU, and I was in a coma for three months. When I came out of the coma, I had to do some rehab and I had to learn how to walk all over again,” said Trench.

“Initially, I was told verbally in February that my contract will not be renewed. However, it became official on the 31st of May. I came back to Jamaica on April 10, and when I came back I still had to do dialysis, but at that point, dialysis was now at my expense,” he added.

After dedicating 16 years of his life and professional career to the Jamaica military, Trench told the Sunday Observer that he feels as if he was shunned, due to his illnesses.

“I am not happy with how they treated my situation, but we don’t have a union or anybody to represent us as soldiers. The only thing I was gifted was gratuity, and I was told that I did not cover as many years that are required for receiving a pension,” Trench said.

An attempt to at least receive a disability pension is said to have been denied because he had not injured himself on the job, Trench further noted.

Trench stated he has since turned to farming to make a living as he looks towards better days.

“I am just trying my best to survive. Right now, it is hand-to-mouth as I am currently doing some farming. I have some egg production going on, as well as some honey,” he explained.

“It has been rough in terms of finances because I do not have a steady income. I have about 50 layer [chicken], so I am just getting a tray of eggs a day…that is like making $1000 a day right now,” Trench added.

Though saddened by how he said he was treated by the military, Trench told the Sunday Observer that instead of hosting his pity party, he tries to look at the cup half full.

“I just take it all with a smile. I have been able to overcome the odds so far and I do not absorb negative energy. A lot of people are surprised by how I have been able to withstand everything that comes my way, but there is nothing else to do. If I was stressed, it would have taken a toll on my health,” he said.

He, however, noted that a constant reminder of his situation comes during his weekly dialysis, as other Government workers show up for the same treatment at the public hospital.

“Recently I said to myself, they have been doing dialysis longer than me and still get to go to work. So if they extend that opportunity to them, why not me? It is not a case where I am not able to do anything,” he said.

Now as Trench attempts to rebuild his life while hoping that he one day receives a kidney transplant, he believes more should be done to assist soldiers who become ill.

“I would want to see a better transition — a system designed in a way which helps soldiers to transition from being military personnel to civilians,” he told the Sunday Observer.