May 4, 2008 — After the death of her son Nigel in 1994, Josephine Hodge said she "didn't want to live." But taking support from her husband, Chester Hodge, and her unshakeable faith, she worked through her grief. Now, through the Nigel O. Hodge Foundation, she helps provide financial assistance to children throughout the Caribbean suffering from cancer and other critical illnesses.
Nigel, a sixth-grader at Lockhart Elementary School, died from complications brought on by Hodgkin's disease, a type of cancer that attacks the lymph nodes. He spent two weeks receiving medical treatment, but passed away just a month after his first symptoms — a lump found under his arm — appeared. He was 12 years old.
A series of "medical mistakes" that occurred during Nigel's treatment prompted the family to file a wrongful death lawsuit, which was settled in 1996, she said. Funds from the settlement have subsidized the foundation for 11 years, and have helped provide more than $40,000 to children in the territory, Anguilla, the Bahamas, and the Dominican Republic.
"My child was really such an unselfish child," Hodge said. "What we're doing now, I think maybe if he's looking down on me, he would be saying, 'yes, this is what I would have wanted.' Because it is his money, and I have to think about that."
Keeping her husband close by her side during an interview, Hodge explained that helping other children by purchasing equipment, covering the cost of transportation and certain medical procedures, helps to put a smile on her face, but doesn't completely take away her feeling of loss.
"Nothing can ever fill that void," she said. "Losing a child is the hardest thing — it's like it isn't real. My world came to an end. But now, when we are able to help someone, and get letters from the children and family members thanking us for what we have done, I feel happy. I think that's what keeps me going."
In its first year, the foundation held its first annual children's concert, bringing together student choirs from various local schools and churches to perform at the Dutch Reformed Church.
"It went so well that people said it should become an annual event," said Chester Hodge. "And it did. That's why the foundation is so important — it's really a community thing. We draw support for our fundraising efforts through the community, and it's that support that really helps the kids with what they need."
Looking back over the past decade, the two recalled various triumphant stories about children they have been able to help, from a young girl needing a hip replacement in the Dominican Republic, to another student at Charlotte Amalie High School who was able to receive a specially equipped wheelchair courtesy of the Nigel O. Hodge Foundation. Hodge is also a regular visitor to Lockhart Elementary and recently helped secure about $1,000 worth of equipment for the school's Health and Fitness Program.
Looking to the future, she said she would like to expand the organization as much as possible, running it throughout the Caribbean and "across the world."
"I would like to see it become a worldwide organization," she said. "And if we get well-known, and financially stable, then maybe it will happen — who knows. Anything is possible."
The Nigel O. Hodge Foundation is part of the collection of funds at the Community Foundation of the Virgin Islands. For more information on the organization, or to make a donation, go to the foundation website
or call 774-6031.
Among the foundation's major sponsors are Balbo Construction, Craig and Sally's, St. Thomas Church of Christ, the Faith Christian Fellowship Church, WGOD and MSI.
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