A concert series titled ‘A Season of Hope’, which features the internationally renowned ‘Handel’s Messiah’ is being coordinated by Rodari Simpson and his Concert Chorale -Stars of Tomorrow- on Saturday, December 17 at the Courtleigh Auditorium in New Kingston. 

The concert series, which also features the Jamaica Youth Chorale, is a charitable event from which proceeds will be donated to the Ministry of Health and Wellness to assist in establishing a burn unit in Jamaica.

“We had an urge to garner all our talent and efforts to assist in the establishment of Jamaica’s own burn unit at KPH,” said Rodari Simpson.

“In the Diaspora, our hearts bled when we heard of the incident of a family in Albion, St Thomas who suffered severe injury and death after a fire, largely because we didn’t have the adequate resources to treat the victims in a timely manner,” he continued. 

Simpson is a Jamaica-born tenor who has dazzled audiences across the United States (US), Europe and the Caribbean. He has formally studied music in the US and continues to live and work in New York while maintaining a strong connection in Jamaica.

The two-and-half-hour concert series being coordinated by Simpson is sponsored by Wisynco and Scotia Bank.

“Christmas is a time of ‘hope’ and to give back. After the 2020 incident, we recognised that a burn unit was not in the plans for the health sector at the time and we had to do something in a meaningful way to contribute to our homeland; the proceeds from this concert series will be the gift from the Diaspora with hopes that others will come onboard to make the burn unit a reality,” Simpson said.

The incident, which occurred in 2021, was well publicised in the media and, though the dedicated professionals at KPH did their best, without the requisite resources and infrastructure, they were unable to save the lives of those injured. Another incident in September 2022, saw two children’s lives being claimed by a house fire and their teenaged sibling being transported overseas to receive lifesaving treatment as her injuries could not be adequately cared for in Jamaica.

FLAME BURNS ACCOUNT FOR 90% OF BURN CASES

‘Handel’s Messiah’ is an internationally renowned musical which speaks to the nativity, passion, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ with both reflective and entertainment value. Persons are able to enjoy an evening of wholesome musical performances and contribute to the cause of establishing a Burn Unit by purchasing a ticket using the Eventbrite platform or by visiting the social media pages for physical ticket updates.

In 2020, 31 people died as a result of fires, 89 were injured and needed critical care. Of the 1,640 coroner’s autopsies during the 15-year period January 1, 1983 to December 31, 1997 at University Hospital, 16.8 per cent involved burns. Flame burns accounted for 90 per cent of burn cases. The need for a burn unit has been a longstanding feature in Jamaica’s public health woes.

JMS Hospital ATL, a member of the burn foundation of America, used most often when victims from Jamaica need advanced burn treatment, sees approximately 5,000 patients each year and has a 95 per cent survival rate which indicates that timely treatment saves lives.