BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – BOUND to a wheelchair for several years, small business owner Curtis Matthew is making a name for himself while being an inspiration to others with similar disabilities.
The wheelchair-bound Matthew has not allowed disability to affect his set goals, as he is very active within his small clothing and pharmaceutical operation located at the Pelican Mall in downtown Basseterre.
SKNVibes caught up with Matthew at his business establishment, where he explained that it is not easy being disabled but it is something he has come to live with over the years.
He stated that unlike some others who are confined because of their disability, he prefers to stay active in his everyday life.
Reflections
Matthew stated that life had changed significantly for him since that dreadful day back in December 2000 when the proverbial carpet was swept from under his feet and he became dependent on others.
The business operator was left to make drastic changes to fit into the new life that was placed upon him.
“On the 19th December 2000, I was going to work and I had an accident…and .my entire life changed from then. I wouldn’t say for the better or for the worst life has changed for me, but it has changed.
“I had to be airlifted to Barbados and it was hard getting the funding. Some of it, I think, came from the Queen Elizabeth Hospital there is Barbados. The government had put some down payment towards my assistance at the hospital and that was about it,” Matthew explained.
He lamented that after spending three months in the Land of Flying Fish, he returned to St. Kitts where his struggles began, since there were no finances or any individual or institution that he could have turned to for help.
“Financial troubles started because there was a lady here (name provided) who called me non-stop asking me for the government’s money and that the government want back their money, and that kind of stuff I faced. I had other financial obligations…people that I still owed.”
Road to recovery
After being released from hospital in St. Kitts, Matthew approached the Development Bank for a soft loan to establish a small operation so that he could clear all of his expenses.
“When I started my recovery, the first thing I did was that I approached Development Bank to get a little loan under what they had called SIDU. I used to make business cards, take music from records, cassettes, VHS and put them upon DVDs. That was short lived because of the electricity crisis that they had, and so I lost everything,” Matthew recounted.
He however wrote to the bank and informed management about what occurred during the electricity crisis when he lost all of his equipment. This challenge almost landed him in jail as he found it difficult to deal with the Recovery Department of the Bank.
“However, the Recovery Manager (name provided) was not an easy person to deal with. So I put it in a lawyer’s hand until I almost went to jail, since a warrant was out for me for the sum amount that was outstanding,” Matthew added.
Illness and Pharmaceuticals
He explained that because of an illness he contracted due to his disability by not being able to readily acquire the much needed medication, he was forced to seek it elsewhere.
“I have a urinary tract infection which I was told is normal. And one day it got so bad with antibiotics that I was like a female on her monthly - goose bumps, clammy sweats, the whole works - and I told myself that there has to be a way out of this, there has to be some way natural. So I did my research and I ran into something they called d’manos, which I would use up to today. I also found several different things that I can use,” Matthew explained.
After explaining his experiences to persons, they had sought to have individual medications to deal with their own illnesses, so he began to operate a pharmacy at the same location where he sells clothes.
Matthew also ventured into selling male enhancements but is currently encountering difficulties with the Chief Medical Officer.
He explained too that a lot of disabled persons do not think outside of the box and they allow themselves to be bogged down.
