As a boy, Kelvin Fortune witnessed and experienced the struggles his mother endured and at the tender age of 11 he even became her major caregiver when she battled debilitating illnesses. She died shortly after and while many have stretched out a helping hand to the young man over the years, he has had to battle with depression and anxiety as he fought to find his footing in life’s journey.
Fortune’s mother was stricken with cancer and HIV and as he prepared for the National Grade Six Assessment, the then 11-year-old also had to care for her. When she died he was at school, but he recalled that the last time he saw her before she left for the hospital, he knew she was dying. Prior to that he also existed in what could be described as a battlefield as he witnessed his mother being beaten by her partners and in one instance he was kicked down the stairs by his stepfather.
Spending three nights and three days on the streets because they had nowhere to live is also part of Fortune’s history. He did not hate his mother, rather, he said, he loved her “very dearly”. He believes life threw too many challenges at her, including the deaths of two of his siblings at a young age from pneumonia, and it was just a case of her not being able to hold her head above water.
