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Gospel singer and former dancehall artiste, Cleve Laing, better known as Lt Stitchie, or simply Stitchie, is “showing signs improvement” and his family is cheering him along every milestone, no matter how minor.
His wife, Sophia Laing, who is a woman of faith, said, however, that the singer, who suffered a debilitating stroke last year, still has “a long way to go”. Giving an update, she explained that there is some movement on the side affected by the stroke and that the entertainer is conscious of his surroundings.
“As I wake up in the mornings and seh, ‘God, thank you for another day’, the second thing I say is, ‘Lord, remember Cleve’. I used to question God, but He told me ‘It’s not your time, Sophia, it’s mine.’ We get sounds, but still no speech. When he’s making the sounds and I am with him, I tell him to relax ... speech will come in time,” Sophia told The Sunday Gleaner.
“I’ll be seeing him this weekend ... the therapy is going well. Yes, we might want to see him up and about, but I know that the Lord will make it happen in his time. I have two scriptures that comfort me ... Isaiah 60:22 and Jeremiah 30:17,” she said quoting the verses.
In September last year, it was revealed that Stitchie had suffered a stroke and was hospitalised at a long-term care facility. The gospel and dancehall music fraternities responded to the call for assistance and rallied around to raise finances to help with his care.
Notably, however in the months leading up to that stroke, concern was expressed for Stitchie, especially after an incident in Canada at a reggae show when he reportedly fell onstage. Promoter of that event, singer Colin ‘Iley Dread’ Levy, told The Sunday Gleaner that Stitchie was eager to help him get back on his feet, “after spending time in Babylon”.
“I told him that as soon as I came out we would talk because I wanted to put on a show for myself. That came to pass and last year May I picked Stitchie up at the airport because he was one of the headliners on my show. I noticed that he was a little sluggish ... he wasn’t as vibrant, but I thought he was tired, because I know that he works long hours in studio. Then at the show, I was backstage and I heard that Stitchie slipped on the stage. He never expressed to me that he was sick. When I heard about his stroke couple months later, I reached out to Shaggy and Bounty Killer and they responded and in Canada here at my Pentecostal church we did a fund-raiser,” Iley Dread said.
MINOR PROCEDURE
Sophia shared that on April 22, the Hide and Pray singer did a minor procedure to use another feeding option. Instead of tubes in his nostrils, the tubes now run straight to his stomach. She explained that this secondary option gives him less discomfort . “He didn’t like the feeding tube,” Sophia said, adding that he used to chew soft food, but has stopped using those muscles.
Currently, she is keeping strong, not just for her husband, but also for their 16-year-old daughter who is currently sitting CXC exams.
“It’s a journey. There are times when I don’t even know how I feel. My daughter will say to me, ‘Mommy, if I think about Daddy, I won’t be able to do my exams.’ We are being there for each other, but when she sees him, she breaks down. At the beginning of her exams, I heard her crying and she said, ‘Mommy, I want to see Daddy.’ I told her just think about him saying ‘You got this Jo-Jo.’ We have to still thank God that Cleve is here with us ... where there’s life, there’s hope,” said Sophia.
Born on September 29, 1965, Lt Stitchie was a teacher when his song, Wear Yuh Size, hit the charts. In 1987, he recorded his first album, Wear Yuh Size, for King Jammys, which the producer also named Great Ambition for the overseas market.
A gifted songwriter, he used his pen to make the dancehall laugh and with his energetic performances to match, Lt Stitchie was constantly riding the charts and making his name globally. One of the earliest dancehall signees to Atlantic Records, all three albums he did for them - The Governor (1989), Wild Jamaican Romances (1991) and Rude Boy (1993) - received Album of The Year in Jamaica. Lt Stitchie was featured on LL Cool J’s 14 Shots to the Dome.
In 1997, he changed his course to gospel reggae after surviving a car crash, and dropped the lieutenant from his name. In 1999, he released his first gospel reggae album, To God Be the Glory.
His wife shared that she plays his gospel songs to him in the hope that one day soon, he will be singing them live.
“I tell him ‘Cleve, the songs that you wrote, let them minister to you. I also tell him that one of these days when I come to visit I’m going to see him sitting up asking me ‘Sophia, wha’ tek you so long?’”
In 2014, Stitchie published his autobiography, The Power of Determination. He was inducted into the Gospel Hall Of Fame in January 2016, in Kingston and in 2021, the Jamaican Government honoured Stitchie with the Order Of Distinction for his contributions to reggae and dancehall music, both locally and internationally.
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