Have you ever had a really tough day at work, where you just feel like you can't go anymore? Well after you see our next story, you may think twice about complaining ever again.
That's because complain is the last thing Lords Bank resident Collet Westby ever thinks about doing, even though he lost full use of his legs 20 years ago. He was confined to a wheelchair and told by his doctors that he would never walk again after he had an accident which injured his spine.
But, instead of accepting that as a sentence to a lifetime of begging for handouts, he went out and earning earn a living in spite of his limited mobility. We met him today, and Daniel Ortiz has that story:
Daniel Ortiz reporting
On any given day, you can find 58 year-old Collet Westby, aka "Sarge", out in a yard like this.
He is known in Lords Bank and Ladyville for his determination to get tough manual labour done, and done right. He takes each task, such as chopping grass, shoveling dirt, and raking debris, seriously, making sure that the person who hired him is satisfied with the job.
We caught him at the tail end of a job to beautify this lot, and it was quite a sight to see him on all fours, patiently chipping away at the workload he set out for himself before lunch.
But, if his age or his diligence doesn't impress you, look at how he does it. He's not down on his hands and knees because that it is his preferred method. He has to because he's disabled, and to get around, he needs to use crutches to walk.
Daniel Ortiz
"What happened?"
Collet "Sarge" Westby - Determined to Remain Independent
"It's not my leg, it's my back. I broke my back when I was climbing a mango tree. I use to take mango to Belize City to sell - all kinds of thing, because our farm is not here, it's up the river. Since I fell from the mango tree, I was being push around in a wheelchair. This was about nearly 20 years ago."
Daniel Ortiz
"When you fell off the tree, what did the doctors say about the injury? did they ever believe that you would regain some kind of mobility being able to walk somehow?"
Collet "Sarge" Westby - Determined to Remain Independent
"The doctor had given me up, but I told them God will bring me back. So I started to gather strength. They told me that I will not walk again. But in my mind, I told the doctor that I will walk again. I told them that they will be surprise to see me walking."
Having been told he would never walk again, Westby battled the mindset of being a medical write-off. And today his refusal to depend on others for his basic needs manifests itself in his work.
Collet "Sarge" Westby - Determined to Remain Independent
"Every day I find something to do and I am recovering more and more."
He does yard work better than able-bodied men. In fact, he was hired in this instance to rectify the incomplete job of 5 other men who collaborated to cut this yard.
Collet "Sarge" Westby - Determined to Remain Independent
"Those guys did this in one day about 5 of them - rough chop. I told the man that I will chop it right down to ground. Sometime I do barbeque charcoal and sometime I chop yard for people. That is the kind of work that I do and I plants things too."
Daniel Ortiz
"For something like this, is it especially hard for you given the mobility problems you have?"
Collet "Sarge" Westby - Determined to Remain Independent
"No, it's not hard. Its good exercise if you notice. I could take this spade and put dirt in a wheelbarrow - all kinds of thing."
He also has a thriving business as a vendor for charcoal which he prepares himself.
In contrast, while walking around Downtown Belize City, it's very common to find healthy young men begging for money. "Sarge" says that he hopes never to be one of those.
Daniel Ortiz
"You would see these young men "gimme this"?"
Collet "Sarge" Westby - Determined to Remain Independent
"They always wants from you, but they don't want to give you."
Daniel Ortiz
"You of all people would have right, a justification to sit down on the street side and beg."
Collet "Sarge" Westby - Determined to Remain Independent
"I rather work for what I want. Sometime people give me things and I accept it. I won't say no."
Daniel Ortiz
"What would you say to those young men who think they have it so difficult in life that they have all their difficulties, yet they have their full health and strength, their full mobility and they may be taking it for granted?"
Collet "Sarge" Westby - Determined to Remain Independent
"It goes with the mind and how you think right. Because if you think that you can't do this and that, that is how you will end up. You have to have that strong mind I could do this and that and you will get there."
Westby says that his goal is still to walk again, without crutches.
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