Ten months and 21 days. That is how long Ralston Thomas has been awaiting surgery at Spanish Town Hospital to fix a fractured femur in his right leg, which was broken in a car accident on October 16, 2025.

The 52-year-old said that despite already paying for the tools needed for the operation, his surgery was postponed twice. He said last December he had a surgery scheduled but doctors told him that the machine needed for the procedure was out of service. On another occasion he said he was informed that although the machine was back in operation, his case was not considered an emergency and other patients were ahead of him.

At the same time, he said doctors continue to refer to his case as complicated and in need of attention; conflicting stories, he said, are leaving him spiralling.

Thomas said his frustration has reached breaking point. Confined to a bed and enduring constant pain at the Spanish Town Infirmary, he is left wondering when, if ever, his turn will come.

He told the Jamaica Observer that following the postponement of his surgery in December, he was moved to the infirmary as he had no one at home to care for him as his relatives are all overseas, and the hospital needed to make the bed available to other patients.

“From that time them have me and a gwaan put me off. Every month I go to the clinic they keep putting me off and say I have to wait. The last time, they said July 3, 2026 I should come back and them a guh give me a surgery date, and dem a go make mi talk to the ward clerk to prepare my admission. When I went back they said they can’t admit me because the hospital beds are full, and it’s one machine working, and whole heap of emergency a come in, so I asked them if my case is not an emergency,” said Thomas.

“They said it’s an emergency but they have some other cases ahead of me that are more urgent because those people [were] in the hospital before me, so they have to run through those cases,” Thomas shared.

A metal rod was placed in Ralston Thomas’s right leg as he awaits surgery to fix his broken limb.

“I went back on August 28 to the clinic and they gave me another six-week date. Every time I go I see a different doctor and dem a tell mi seh my foot a go take a long time to heal,” Thomas said, his voice laced with frustration.

He said what has been even more frustrating is that he already paid $187,000 to have the surgery, money his family rushed to raise through a GoFundMe account because they were informed that he urgently needed the procedure. However, now he is forced to wait and watch as others get the medical assistance they need.

“They just have me all around the corner, and I don’t know why. From the time I was in hospital, a patient come in after me, and the other day I went to the clinic and he told me that he got his surgery. It’s about two months after [me when] he came in, and another youth too; the two of them came in after me and get them surgery so I want to know why my surgery can’t be done,” said Thomas.

“It’s terrifying and stressful. I have to just go through a lot of [clinic appointments], and medication, and all of them things there. It’s not a normal thing, for almost one year now… I just want my foot to do so I can come out. More time when mi mind run on certain things I kinda shed a little tear because of depression and sadness, but me a tough youth. Me a 52-year-old and me born struggling, so me a hold it,” he told the Sunday Observer.

Spanish Town Hospital CEO Jacqueline Ellis said that while she could not speak to the specifics of Thomas’s case, she will have the matter investigated to provide the family with answers.

Thomas’s cousin, Beverly Armstrong, said the family is sick with worry and is left with more questions than answers. The United States resident said that on a recent visit to Jamaica she accompanied Thomas to a doctor to seek answers, but they left with more questions. She said she also reached out to many individuals in the health sector for assistance, only for her cries to fall on deaf ears.

Armstrong said the situation has caused her to seriously question if she wants to return to Jamaica.

“It’s very heartbreaking. His mother cries every day. It’s frustrating and very disappointing, because while we’re living here in the United States — because we come to get a better life — we always want to come back home. We come back home all the time because home is where our heart is, and now that I think about if I happen to be in Jamaica, God forbid, you’re going to tell me that this is what it is like and that the health-care system down here is so horrible that you cannot even come home?” she said.

THOMAS… was injured and hospitalised after a car accident on October 16, 2025

“It’s very disturbing and I’m very disappointed. I go to bed at night wondering, ‘Okay, is he going to be infected? What if infection sets in?’ And then it’s traumatising for me as well,” she said.

Armstrong also alleged that the medical professionals at the hospital exhibit a lack of respect and empathy as they are not quick to provide updates and are dismissive when pressed for information.

She said the family requested a transfer for Thomas to Kingston Public Hospital (KPH), but they faced challenges with Spanish Town Hospital not wanting to cooperate despite KPH stating its willingness to take him as a patient.

She added that the family also faced difficulties getting the full money paid to a third-party facility for devices needed for the surgery. She said she was told by the company that 10 per cent would be deducted from the money paid, a move she said she finds unfair, given that the delay was outside of their control.

Armstrong said the family decided not to pursue the refund, and simply wants the surgery done.

“All I want at the end of the day is to get Ralston his surgery so we can leave them alone. Just give him surgery so he can get the proper care and the healing process can start properly — because right now I’m sure he has healed somewhat, but not properly, and to me, that is detrimental to his health. Whether it’s from the Spanish Town Hospital or any other facility that accommodates him, I believe that someone in authority can make it happen,” she said.

“I just want him to get the surgery so he can get on with his life. We don’t want to be fighting with these people all this time. I’m not out to attack anybody…because I don’t like that, but at the end of the day they push you to the limit, and you’ve got to do what you got to do. At the end of the day, the goal is to fix him,” said Armstrong.

The main entrance to Spanish Town Hospital in St Catherine