– mom was shot dead years ago in DV incident
Diagnosed with bone cancer several months ago which later resulted in her left arm being amputated, 13-year-old Shakiva Clements has faced more hardship than many adults yet she has learned to be grateful for each day and says she would not give up on life.
This was not always her outlook; Shakiva has had her share of grim days. Her grandmother, Marva Clements, has been there for her whenever she felt it was just too much. But her positivity is admirable for one so young; she has a ready smile and can even laugh at herself.
Because of the amputation she believes her dream of one day becoming a doctor has been dashed since she cannot imagine a “one hand doctor.” But she has already decided on a second career choice, a counsellor. For now, she and her grandmother are hoping that she can one day soon acquire a prosthetic arm.
When this reporter sat down with the Tutorial High School student recently, she became teary-eyed during parts of the interview. But in general, Shakiva spoke of her life experiences in a matter-of-fact manner and seemed very mature for her age. In fact she appears to be headed down the road to her second career choice as for her the everyday problems of her fellow classmates matter, and she spoke about the many times she has sat and listened to them.
“They would come to me and tell me about their problems and I would talk to them and advise them and sometimes if I can’t help I would tell them to talk to a teacher,” she told the Sunday Stabroek recently.
The cancer diagnosis, though heartrending is just one of the traumas Shakiva has had to live through. Apart from having her arm amputated, Shakiva also lost her beautiful hair (which she described as being long and curly) as a result of chemotherapy and she now wears a wig. But long before those devastating experiences, she
