Paralysed man still adjusting after accident

By Tracey Khan

TWENTY-year-old Randy Bichand is paralysed from the chest down after an estate lorry crashed into his motorcycle in 2018, causing him severe spinal injuries.
Bichand, who lives with his family at Adelphi Village, East Canje, Berbice was on his way home from the Albion Estate, where he worked as a porter, when life as he knew it, changed for the worse. He was transferred to that location after the Estate in Rose Hall closed down.
He is now confined to a bed most of the time, unable to do anything for himself.

This new way of life, compounded with the physical pain that comes with something so traumatic, has been hard to come to terms with.
What is even worse is, that Randy was the main breadwinner for his family, and prior to his accident he worked tirelessly to support them. His father, who was also in an accident, has not been able to work for months, and the sales his mother garners from her small stand in front of their home is what gets the family by.

Randy was a vibrant young man who loved to play sports and hang out with his friends; this is something that has become foreign to him.
He said since his accident, most of his friends have abandoned him, something that brings tears to his eyes when he reminisces on how his life was before that dreadful day.
His four-year-old daughter is confident that her father will walk again and reminds him almost daily of this. He, too, is optimistic that it can be done with better medical care.

The family lamented about the treatment given to him by some doctors in the public health care system. Randy explained that the doctors performed a surgery on him following the accident but no proper explanation has been offered.
Despite the many challenges, his family is standing by him but that too has not been an easy task. His sister Lisa Sampson is hoping the family will wake up from this nightmare.

The driver of the lorry was accused of making a U-Turn without indication and crashing into Randy.
He was placed on $70,000 bail. Now the family is hopeful that Randy will be given the opportunity to be treated overseas, which may increase his chances of walking or becoming more mobile on his own.

Randy recently started therapy and he is now able to sit on his own, a basic function that he was unable to do a few months ago.
A ‘Go Fund Me’ account has been set up for Randy and the family is asking persons to donate so that he can continue with the therapy sessions and other medical care that is helping with his recovery. Persons desirous of helping the family can call 616-1871.