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Life -
Roots Manuva and Geospin

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Geospins Diary

 

 

 

 

Meeting Roots Manuva

By May Geospin had been moved to a hospital nearer his home. This meant I had to drive to Chelmsford to pick him up from the hospital. I called his parents, the hospital staff nurses and with remarkable minimal bureaucracy agreed to arrive at 11am to pick up Geospin to take him to Brixton to meet Roots Manuva.

When I arrived I was amazed to see Geospin in tracksuit and sweatshirt. He was dressed. He was clearly on the road to recovery. I was also unnerved to see that his feet were heavily bandaged and walking was almost impossible. Severe skin loss meant that he had the tips of his toes amputated and the tips of his fingers amputated as well. He was clearly in pain and worried about walking. He wanted a wheelchair but the nurses were adamant that he should walk and I knew the distances were small and so after a pair of operating theatre shoes had been found, we set off at a very slow pace for the car. I felt clumsy asking if he had written any ideas down because he could no longer hold a pen. He looked very thin and the staff were clearly concerned that he eat and drink properly. The nurses gave us water, endless cartons of body building drinks that I was familiar with from hospice cupbards and fridges and slowly we left the hospital.

On the way to London we talked of travelling, of his hope of traveling to the Caribbean and outside Europe, his love of fishing and the story of his illness and recovery. He talked about the journey to the hospital and how the ambulance had stopped three times on the way to the hospital to rescusitate him, about how his parents were told he would probably be brain damaged after his illness and how he might never walk again.

Meanwhile, Jo had met Rodney Smith and Jean from LH Management and given them lunch at her house. We arrived slightly late and at the school, Geospin met the boys who had posted messages on his site and Rodney Smith. He told the story of being in a coma and the slow journey towards recovery. Within a week the date was fixed for the recording June 7. Rodney's recording studio donated the space and Geospin was to get the chance to spend four hours in the studio recording a song.

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