By Svetlana Marhsall
Still struggling to face the reality that is before her, single mother of three, Samantha Ramitt, who lost two of her children when the MV Barima capsized on Saturday night, said she may never recover from the tragic incident.
Ramitt’s three children were among eight grandchildren traveling with her mother, Hellena Moonsammy on that ill-fated day.
The children and their grandmother were heading to Mabaruma for a vacation.
Ramitt’s 11-year-old son survived the tragedy, but her daughter and infant son along with two of her nieces died.
“Losing two is hard for me. I don’t think I could ever recover from this, the girl is my only daughter, the girl is my only daughter, my princess, she was full of life, I never thought this would have happened. I am just hoping I recover from it. Just pray for me, meh mother and my two other sisters be strong to go through this,” Ramitt said.
The grieving mother was in Charity, Essequibo on Wednesday with other families waiting to identify their loved ones as their bodies were recovered.
“One of my child survived, the 11 year-old but so far we discover only three of them, just meh baby, just meh baby they ain’t finding. The two year-old boy Vince Wong, just he. Akella Rodrigues was discovered, we identified she; Vivianna Saddeudin, we identified she; and Robina Hernandes. Is just Vince Wong we ain’t finding,” the grieving mother said.
Still in shock, the young mother recalled that she was at work at Barama on Saturday morning when she heard that the MV Barima had capsized . Hoping for the best, she said she raced to Charity where the search and rescue operation was taking place. It was there that she was confronted by her worst fears.
“When I reach, I see meh mother, thank God she alive; then I see my son, I hugged him and I say babes God save you for a purpose; then I see my niece afterwards, I hugged her, and say way the rest deh but my son said mommy, we does call her [my daughter] fat-so, he said fat-so dead mommy because the engines that they de carrying on the boat fall on she, and she mek one holler, and he know she dead. Luckily, he knows to swim but she ain’t know to swim,” Ramitt said.
The little boy told his mother that he tried to save his sister, but she was pinned. He said he swam to the top of the ocean and along with six others held onto a floating object, but recalled that there were times that his feet became tired.
Ramitt’s infant baby, Vince Wong, was with her mother at the time but she was unable to save him.
“Meh mother seh she think all of them gone, all of them gone. She said the baby, she had he in she hand but the box them was so much, and them de sleeping in the boat, a narrow part, and the boxes fall on them, she get pin off, and the thing knock the baby out she had. She said even if he de dead, she de coming up with he,” Ramitt said.
She is hopeful that no effort will be spared to ensure the baby’s body is recovered.
“I know me baby deh down in that boat. If them ain’t find he, I know, he deh down in that boat because is at the back they went sleeping. I know my baby deh down in that boat. I need them to find my baby because I know it really hard. I prefer to see he, than to know he deh down in that boat. I want my baby”
Wednesday was another day of combing through bodies at Charity for Kemon Benn, to determine whether the bodies of her 47-year-old sister Marcia Beharry and 10-year-old nephew Jason Headley had been found. She said she left the site feeling nothing but pain and anguish.
Her sister’s remains had been recovered, but not those of her nephew.
“Sitting down there, waiting just to see if your love one coming, and listening to other families when they identify their family, it is not easy witnessing this…The only way how I could have identified my sister because you can’t identify them by their face, is my sister she had lupus, so she de lose two figures,” the woman said.
The grief stricken woman said she last spoke to her sister and nephew at around 3:45pm on Saturday, shortly after the ferry had departed Port Georgetown.
A number of families are expected to return to the site for identifying the bodies today, with the hope of finding the remains of their relatives. So far, the bodies of 65 persons have been recovered.
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