After suffering severe brain damage from accident

Aug 27, 2023 News

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…Boy captures 12 CSEC subjects

By Shervin Belgrave

Kaieteur News – Despite suffering severe brain damage after being knocked off his bicycle by a pick-up on May 6, 2021, 17-year-old Azriel Waldron bounced back two years later with 12 Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) passes.

His mother reportedly screamed “Yes! Yes!” when he shared his CSEC results with her because doctors were not sure if he would have fully recovered from the state he was in. The left-side of his brain was badly damaged; that half of his body was paralyzed but he defied the odds and made his parents and teachers proud.

Waldron, a resident of Vigilance, East Coast Demerara (ECD) and student of Chase Academic Foundation gained two grade ones, eight grade twos and two grade threes at the recently concluded CSEC Exams.

Speaking with Kaieteur News, his mother, Shawnette Waldron, said “I am very proud of him because we made a lot of sacrifice, up to now, I still owe the school fees.”

Waldron himself spoke of how it was financially tough for his parents to send him to school and it worked as a motivation for him to succeed in his studies.

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Sometimes I would only drink cup of tea for the day and that would last me until 10 ‘o’ clock (at night) when I come home from lessons, because I didn’t have a lot of money to buy food, the little I had was only to pay passage and so,” Waldron recounted.

The hardships however did not deter Waldron, because according to him, he wants to be a successful “Buxton boy” who wants to provide for his family, particularly their needs.

Waldron’s journey to CSEC success is one of never giving up when life knocks you down. The lad started his high school education at the Bladen Hall Secondary School on the East Coast of Demerara (ECD). There, he not only excelled academically but was a fine track athlete representing his school and Region in distance races at the national level. But when tragedy struck two years ago, he was preparing for the CSEC exams.

One afternoon while riding home on his bicycle from lessons at Beterverwagting, ECD he was struck down by a Toyota Tundra in the vicinity of Mon Repos.

Waldron recalled that it was around 20:00hrs. He said that he and some of his friends were riding together when all of a sudden, the vehicle sped into them. His friends managed to ride away but his bicycle chain slipped and the pick-up slammed into him from behind.

All he remembers is that he was crawling to his bicycle in pain. “I seh a dead deh,” Waldron said as he recounted the horror of fighting to keep his eyes open. Police later picked him up from off the road and rushed him to the city hospital where he was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

There he spent the next two weeks battling for his life. He recovered and was eventually discharged but it took more than three months before he could walk again.

Determined to continue his studies and sit the CSEC exams, Waldron returned to the Bladen Hall Secondary School but because he missed an entire term, he was not promoted to Grade 11 (Form Five).

Waldron was forced to spend another year in Grade 10 (Fourth Form). He didn’t like the idea but because he wanted to make his parents proud, therefore he persisted.

Despite not being financially strong, his parents decided to invest in him. They transferred him to the Chase Academic Foundation, a private school located in Georgetown.

“I spent my last term in Grade 10 there before going over to Grade 11,” Waldron said.

The move and adjusting to the new learning environment were not easy for Waldron but every time he failed, he would pick himself up and go again until he gets it right.

“I could remember Sir giving me big big zeroes but I would go home and study late at nights just to get it right,” Waldron told Kaieteur News while adding that his mother would tell him that he cannot push himself so hard because he was still recovering from a serious injury.

Waldron ignored her advice and would tell her he needs to get it right.

His teachers at the private school noted his persistence and determination and decided to work along with him, motivating Waldron to keep on striving for success.

One of his teachers, Jamain Hatton even made an emotional Facebook post asking the public to join him in congratulating Waldron, “a young man with grit, wit and an undying spirit to succeed.”

Hatton said, “I met this star about a year ago while teaching him 3 CSEC subjects. One of those subjects was English B. From his first essay, I realized that if he were to pass the exam, he would require tremendous work. I told him this and the change happened immediately. Azriel was persistent; he took advice and practised over and over to get it right.”

The teacher added that Waldron “moved from extremely poor writing skills to Grade One performances in English A and B”.

“This is mostly because of his personal commitment of wanting to do well,” Hatton added.

Waldron wants to pursue his studies at the University of Guyana (UG) and if possible, sit the CAPE exams but because of his financial constraints, he is unable to do so at this time.

Nevertheless, he is not about to give-up just yet. Waldron also has plans of serving his country as a Cadet Officer in the Guyana Defence Force (GDF).

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• Azriel Waldron, Brain damage, CSEC, Jamain Hatton, passes

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