Chris Jardine

Chris Jardine, a native of Guyana got leprosy as a very young man which caused many deformities of his body. Both hands are just stubs. Over the years, his leg got very bad and in1984 he had the opportunity to go to the States in Louisiana where a surgeon amputated one of his legs. He needed to stay there for awhile so he could get used to his prosthesis and learn how to use it. He stayed in Louisiana for three years where he did odd jobs around the hospital. While he was there, he met the missionaries. He was converted and baptized. He joined the Church in 1985 and he is reputed to be the first native Guyanese to be baptized in the Church. We were told by another source that he kept telling the missionaries that baptized him to see that other missionaries be sent to Guyana and he pushed it until it happened. He came back to Guyana, his native land and a few years later because of diabetes, he had to have his other leg amputated. The surgery was done in Georgetown and the doctor amputated his leg above the knee so there was no chance for a prosthesis. He is now 70 years old and he continues to live in a very, very old hospital where he has lived for years in a very small 10x 10 room in Mahaica. He was in very bad need of a wheelchair! When we found out about his condition, we just mentioned it to the First Lady. There were no wheelchairs allocated for church members in this container that she had just received, but she was very excited to see him get one of these wheelchairs and she made arrangements immediately for us to get one for him. We took it to the hospital where he lives and it was a wonderful Christmas gift to us as we were able to spend an hour with him! As soon as he saw the chair, he maneuvered himself into it and had a big smile on his face but then he quickly put himself back in his old chair. He said “I want to wait and get up Christmas morning and have this be my Christmas gift”..he then said “do you have time to read some scriptures with me before you have to leave? Of course, we wanted to! He wanted to read from Alma 32:1-23. When we finished, he wanted us to sing him a Christmas hymn…Away in a Manger. This was so humbling and touching for us. There was such a wonderful feeling in his tiny little room that had no furniture, only a stool and some boxes. As we left, he watched us and waved until he couldn’t see us anymore. We can’t wait to go back to see him again. We have made a wonderful friend!
What one wheelchair can do!