Hanover woman without hands mourns suspected killing of only cow

A Hanover woman living without hands is struggling to rebuild after the sudden, suspicious death of her only cow on Sunday, July 19.

Jasmine Greenfield, 30, discovered the animal lifeless in bushes near her home, roughly a month after she bought it and about a month before it would have turned one year old. The aspiring livestock farmer had hoped the cow would help her earn enough to cover her son's six CSEC subjects without relying on public assistance or others.

Her grandmother checked the animal sometime after 6 a.m. that Sunday and found it well. A friend who tended his own animals nearby after midday also reported no problem. After 3 p.m., Greenfield's son and another friend went to look and telephoned her with the news that the cow was dead.

When she arrived, Greenfield said the animal lay still with its eyes open, its stool unusually dark and bloodied, and its body still warm, suggesting it had died only shortly before.

The spot where the cow was kept is the same area where, in 2017, her former partner attacked her while she was three months pregnant with her daughter, leaving her without both hands. She compared the grief over losing the animal to how she felt five years earlier when her mother died, saying she broke down and felt like giving up.

After returning home and bathing, further trouble followed. Distracted by stress, she cut her toe with a grater while rubbing her foot and had to seek urgent medical care. Greenfield, who has diabetes, said doctors later told her the wound is healing.

She remains unsure why anyone would harm her animal, saying she does not know what she did wrong and that only God can explain it. Her aim is to recover and continue, but she is worried about finding money for another cow — and if she does buy one, she will not keep it in the same place as before.