Medical student’S DREAM TURNS NIGHTMARE

ASHANTI LAWSON  STAR Writer  Gabrielle Graham was still a high school student when she walked into a doctor’s office and questioned her father’s diagnosis.  For months, she had watched him become increasingly ill. He had been diagnosed with gastroenteritis, but when his condition worsened and his abdomen began swelling, Graham became convinced something was wrong.  “I spent nights reading articles about his condition and researching what I thought was wrong with him,” the 23-year-old Montego Bay native recalled. Her research led her to diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), a potentially life-threatening complication of diabetes.  “I said, ‘Excuse me, Doc, I don’t want to be disrespectful, but I think my dad has DKA. Is it possible for you to check it?’” Graham said subsequent tests came back positive for DKA. It was one of the moments that cemented her decision to become a doctor. But after many obstacles, the biggest one now hinders her - she is about $3.9 million in university debt.  The University of the West Indies medical student began her degree in 2022 and expected to now be in fifth year. Instead, she is stuck in third. After her father’s diagnosis, a toe injury became infected and developed into gangrene, eventually resulting in a below-the-knee amputation. With restrictions in place due to COVID-19, and her father’s freshly amputated limb needing care, Graham took responsibility for cleaning, dressing and wrapping the wound herself.  “I fell in love with the process, and I told myself, this is where I feel like I belong,” she said. “I told myself, ‘I need to become a doctor’. She eventually entered medical school as a self-financing student. But months into the journey, another medical emergency struck her family.  In November 2022, shortly before her first university mid-semester examinations, Graham’s mother was injured in an acid attack and was rushed for medical treatment. With examinations approaching, Graham said she informed the Faculty of Medical Sciences about the situation and sought an alternative to sitting the exams at that time. According to Graham, she was advised that not sitting them would result in her having to repeat the year. So she sat them, but failed three of the six courses that semester and another two the following one. She later repeated and passed the outstanding courses. During her repeat year in 2023, Graham noticed her father’s vision beginning to fail. His body was also swelling and his breathing had become difficult. But what money he had, Graham recalled him telling her that he would rather put towards helping her through medical school. By December of that, his health had deteriorated considerably. Graham said he was diagnosed with heart failure and stage-five kidney disease. She left Kingston during her examination period to see him before returning to prepare for courses she had already failed once.   About two weeks later, her dad died less than two days before one of her exams.   “I went into the exam and I cried over the paper. My paper was filled with tears,” Graham said. “I said ‘Daddy wouldn’t want me to fail this exam’.”  “To this day, I really haven’t accepted his death,” she said. “I really wanted to finish med school so that I could help him.”  Despite the setbacks, Graham continued. She completed the repeated courses, progressed through second year and eventually completed the first semester of third year. But financially, she could not keep pace. Her academic setbacks led to lost scholarships she had previously depended on, leaving portions of her university fees unpaid. The outstanding balance followed her even as she progressed academically. It is now at nearly $4 million.  She has completed third year, semester one, but cannot register to begin semester two until the outstanding fees are addressed. While she has continued applying for assistance, being unregistered has also made her ineligible for some scholarships she has pursued. She has already used one of the two years she says she is allowed to take as a leave of absence.  “I remember looking at my friends. They are now in fifth year and I am still stuck,” she said. “I cried out of frustration.” Graham’s hope now is to raise the money to clear the outstanding balance so she can register and resume her studies.  “There is nobody coming to save me. That’s the harsh reality,” she said. But she is not ready to surrender the dream. She still intends to finish her studies in her dad’s honour.  “No matter what, I have to honour his last name and put that ‘Dr’ in front of his name,” Graham said.

Persons wishing to assist Gabrielle Graham, may contribute to her GoFundMe https://www.gofundme.com/f/fund-my-medical-school-journey/wa/o?v=amp14_t...