After a painful video of this country’s top boxer Claude Noel found its way online yesterday, showing the sporting icon in distress, the Ministry of Social Development and Family Services says it will step in to ensure the necessary care is afforded to him.

The viral clip showed Mr. Noel sitting on the floor calling for help, unable to get up on his own as his right leg has been amputated.

In a statement last evening, the Ministry says it was unaware of this condition and made a promise to collaborate with the Health Ministry to fast track a prosthetic leg to be given to him.

The Ministry also revealed that Mr. Noel is a recipient of government’s Special Achievers’ Grant.

“The Special Achievers’ Grant provides support to persons who made a significant contribution to the development of this country and are experiencing severe hardship. To date there are approximately thirty-five (35) persons in receipt of the Special Achievers Grant,” the Ministry said.

It added: “It was brought to the Ministry’s attention that there was a period of time that Mr Noel’s Special Achievers cheques were not collected and attempts were made to contact/locate Mr Noel.  The Ministry was able to reach Mr Noel’s nephew, Renny Noel, who is authorised to collect the payments on his behalf.  Following this, the payments were subsequently issued to Mr Noel’s nephew on February 7, 2023, in the sum of approximately $15,000.00.”