Relatives of deceased students in a state of shock, disbelief

Last Sunday, one father did not believe that his daughter had died, a grandmother was shocked over her grandchild’s passing and a mother could not speak about the death of her child.

On January 29, this country awoke to the news that a deadly collision in neighbouring Barbados at Graeme Hall, Christ Church, at around 3 a.m., had claimed the lives of 19-year-old Aziza Dennie of Redemption Sharpes, Danee Horne, 17, of Questelles and Carianne Padmore, 18, of Simon (New Prospect), Biabou.

Also killed in the accident was the driver of the car P-6676, Andre Jabarry Gittens, a 23-year-old employee of The Crane Resort and a resident of St Phillip, Barbados.

“To be honest I personally did not believe when I heard what happened, and I still don’t believe, I’m in a state of shock right now,” Danee’s father Dale Horne told SEARCHLIGHT on Sunday, while standing on the veranda of his Questelles home.

He said that he was not briefed on what exactly had happened and had to rely on hearsay and media reports to piece together the details of his daughter’s untimely demise.

“…to me is like nothing happen… that is the way I’m feeling,” said the bereaved father, standing next to Danee’s younger brother.

Horne said that Danee was the youngest of three sisters and enjoyed life and being in the kitchen.

“She is a person who loved the kitchen; she love to bake, cook, that was her nature. She wasn’t an outgoing person, just cool, quiet and helpful,” said the saddened father, who added that his daughter left home for Barbados

on December 16 last year to pursue a hands-on course in hospitality at The Crane Resort in St Phillip.

“She was there for six weeks; she was supposed to be back this morning,” commented the grieving father, who was the only person in the family composed enough to speak to the media.

Danee would have celebrated her 18th birthday on May 27th. She was a past student of the St Joseph’s Convent Kingstown (SJCK), who like the other teenagers who perished was furthering her education at the St Vincent and the Grenadines Community College (SVGCC) Division of Technical and Vocational Education.

The teenagers had just completed a six-week hospitality internship at The Crane Resort and were returning from a farewell function, when the car they were travelling in collided with a van.

Two other Vincentian students who were in the vehicle, Kemelius Boyea, 18, of Chateaubelair and Darren Daniel, 18, of Campden Park, survived and have since been discharged from the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Bridgetown. Reports are that Boyea underwent surgery, while Daniel was kept for observation.

On Sunday, the grandmother and two aunts of Carianne, speaking from their Simon (New Prospect) home, were all shaken up by the tragedy.

“I feel very distraught and confused, I can’t even explain how I feel beyond that, I was looking forward to seeing her today,” said Carianne’s Aunt Erene Jacobs.

Crying, Jacobs said that the SJCK student was “very cool quiet, mannerly and easy going.”

Carianne had one brother and one sister.

Another aunt, Liz Padmore, said that she was extremely saddened by the death of her niece while she, like her sister Erene, was looking forward to seeing Carianne on Sunday.

“I can’t believe this sad news,” said Liz.

Carianne’s grandmother, Ivy Padmore, said that she had a strange dream at around the same time that Carianne is said to have died. The elderly woman thinks that her granddaughter was calling out to her.

She said that she became aware of what had happened when she awoke on Sunday morning and heard persons who were at a shop that is attached to her house talking about the crash.

“After that, I got a message from my daughter and it shocked me. I can’t even explain how I feel. She was a very nice and intelligent young lady who was nice to everyone. All the family members are in tears,” said Ivy.

Carianne was a member of the Wesleyan Holiness Church in Simon and according to church

member Joan Andrews, “she was a very humble child.”

Andrews said that Carianne was baptized and was active in the church and would sometimes make up poems for their entertainment.

“I miss her so much, I feel this death; she was very mannerly, never rude. I’m so sad about her passing and we are all grieving in the village”, Andrews commented, with tears in her eyes.

Opposition New Democratic Party (NDP) South Windward caretaker Noel Dickson was on hand Sunday to offer words of comfort to the bereaved family.

“It might be hard to find words that may comfort a mother or father or a love one…I can say that I feel their pain and that it is something that they will not bear alone,” Dickson said.

When visited at Redemption Sharpes, Aziza’s family members said that they were not in a frame of mind to speak about the incident. However, the deceased girl’s sister Azinza disclosed that her sister had two brothers and three other sisters and had left St Vincent to pursue what she loved. Aziza was a former student of the Dr JP Eustace Memorial Secondary School at Edinboro.

Yesterday, an event was held in remembrance of the deceased students at the Arnos Vale campus of the SVGCC.