[UPDATED] GIVE ME A CHANCE

ALL that domestic violence survivor Tricia St John wants is a chance to prove herself in the workforce. No handouts, no sympathy...just a chance to prove herself. But, sadly, for the last ten years, she says, her applications have been rejected by hundreds of companies.

St John feels she has been discriminated against and denied job opportunities because her left forearm is missing. It was chopped off by an angry ex-boyfriend 15 years ago. The mother of four, who said she is qualified in clerical, secretarial and social work, has had hundreds of interviews in the last ten years.

And she said the outcomes of all have been the same, as prospective employers tell her she is not suitable because of her missing arm. “When they speak to me over the phone, the job sounds so promising and I get my hopes up. I prepare myself. I walk in the interview with my academic certificates and my confidence.

“And then they look at my arm, and at the end of the interview they tell me they would get back to me.” She said some employers tell her right after the interview that she would not be a suitable candidate and they don’t believe she can do the job because of her disability. Others give her the same excuse while following up over the phone.

“I never got the opportunity to prove myself, and I am qualified for the jobs. But I am judged because I don’t have a left arm. I am very capable of doing the jobs I sign up for. I can type with my right hand, I can file documents and much more. I can do everything that the job description requires.

“But yet I have been turned away. I have lost so much faith in the human race. I have been treated less than human.” St John said she feels worthless at times and often feels like giving up, but with a strong family support system, she is encouraged to keep pushing herself. She has also written a book and is compiling several others which she hopes to publish.

“I will never give up,” she declared. “My hope is that a company out there one day will give me a chance to just prove myself. I can do the job. It is so hard to survive on a disability grant of $2,000.” St John is also doing a degree in social work at the College of Science, Technology and Applied Arts. Her arm was severed at Third Avenue, Gajadhar Lands, Princes Town on April 2, 2004, after St John ended a ten-year-long abusive relationship.

St John is hosting a dance and fashion show to raise $93,109.08 to buy a prosthetic arm. She said while she is capable of using one hand, this arm will help her with other daily activities.

The show will be held on July 13 at the Chaguanas South Secondary School at Helen Street, Lange Park. She is asking members of the public to support her by buying tickets. St John can be contacted at 342-4627.