A NOT SO TYPICAL JAMAICAN STORY
In the metropolitan area of Kingston, Jamaica lived the ambitious Jayla Amaican. As a
child she dreamed of being a doctor and helping those in need despite being from a lower
class family. Through hard work and perseverance, however, she got a scholarship to
University of the West Indies and later on to medical school abroad. She returned after
finishing 3 years of residency and quickly obtained a job at the Kingston public hospital. In
achieving her dreams she aims to impart some change to the medical sector. Besides her
aspirations, she has grown to appreciate the encounters she has had while working as a doctor
and they motivate her to continue striving to make a change.
One such encounter was with Brianna Sinclair. She was an intelligent girl who fell victim to
an unfortunate encounter of sexual assault. Jayla was the one who found her after the incident
and she was hysterical, screaming and crying for her mother. After calming her, she
explained what had happened. She was on her way home from school when it started raining.
She had left her umbrella and had to run for shelter at the nearest building. After standing
under the ledge of the abandoned building for 5 minutes she had heard a strange noise. As
soon as she turned around, a man grabbed her from behind and knocked her unconscious.
When she came to, she was undressed and a masked man was on top of her. She cried and
screamed for him to get away from her but he ignored her and she lacked the strength to
escape his grasp. She realised screaming was futile so she switched her tone to a more polite
one asking him calmly to let her go and she wouldn’t tell anyone. He had paused for a
moment and just then he weakened his grasp. Brianna escaped his grasp, kicked him and ran
with all her might and that’s where Jayla found her.
Jayla was amazed by her bravery and applauded her for it. Brianna’s mother was contacted
and 30 minutes later she rushed into the hospital. She asked Dr. Amaican what happened and
she recounted the events. When Brianna woke up from her nap, her mother scolded gently,
'Mi neva tell u fi always ave yuh umbrella!' then embraced her in a warm hug. Brianna
responded, 'I’m sorry, mama,' tearfully. Her mother smiled and replied, 'It’s not your fault,
baby.’. Luckily Brianna was not raped and the evidence on her clothes were used to catch the
culprit and he was found to be involved in other more serious cases. He was tried and
sentenced to life imprisonment.
A similarly intriguing encounter was with Jaquan Parks. One day Mr. Parks found his way
to her office. He seemed quite nervous so she inquired about his condition. He hesitated then
began his tale. He said he has been in a relationship with a young lady for two years and he
intended to marry her however they disagreed on the idea of having children. His girlfriend
wants a child but he wants to wait a couple of years until they are more financially stable. His
girlfriend was quite upset and she distanced herself from him for a bit. He was worried their
relationship was over however one week later his girlfriend came back and apologised to
him. The relationship seemed to be going smoothly until 5 months later when his girlfriend
said she was pregnant. Jaquan was surprised but he appeared happy in front of his girlfriend.
He was suspicious of this as they had always used contraceptives. He searched his drawers
and found that the condoms had been tampered with. Jaquan was furious. When his girlfriend
came home he yelled at her and confronted her. His girlfriend folded her arms and calmly
said “I’m the one having the baby so it doesn’t matter. You don’t need to be involved”.
Jaquan was shocked. His girlfriend broke up with him saying it was her baby and she never
wanted to see him again. Jaquan finished the recount of what happened and broke down in
tears. 'Despite not wanting the child,' he admitted between sobs, 'I wanted to be a part of its
life.' Dr. Amaican, genuinely shocked and appalled, offered her advice. 'It would be best to
bring the issue to court,' she suggested, 'as you're just as much a parent to the child as your
girlfriend.'. Mr. Parks shook her hand gratefully and left. After the birth of the child, Jaquan
was allowed shared custody in court.
From these encounters, Jayla’s ambition was reignited and she continues to work towards
changes in the medical sector especially as it relates to reproduction and reproductive rights.