Buccament Bay Resort employee says he keeps seeing face of missing co-worker
Sam Embeti has returned to work at the Buccament Bay Resort, less than one week after he almost drowned in the flood that took place on Christmas Eve.{{more}}
During the heavy rains on December 24, Embeti, who is employed as a server at the resort, was swept into the sea, along with his co-worker, Josell Small, when the Buccament River overflowed its banks.
While Small is still reported as missing, Embeti has returned to work.
âI did stay home a couple days,â he said. âIt was my choice. I wanted to come backâ.
The Layou resident, who is also one of the last persons to see Small, recounted the experience while speaking to SEARCHLIGHT on Tuesday.
He said it is hard for him to sleep, as he has flashbacks of the incident every time he closes his eyes.
âIâm trying to [cope]. Every time I close my eyes, I keep seeing Josell,â Embeti said.
âIâm a person; I have never been in a fight in my life. That experienceâ¦itâs very close to death. I thought I was going to die at that time.â
The server explained that he, his supervisor and Small left work at around 9:30 p.m., and that water had already began to flood the resort.
âI didnât think anything, because it rains so often. As a matter of fact, that same night, my guests were asking me about the rain; so then I told them welcome to St Vincent becauseâ¦one minute it rains and one minute itâs sunshine; so I didnât think anything about it,â Embeti said.
He revealed that while the three of them were crossing the bridge to leave, Josell screamed, began to run and called for him to do the same.
Embeti noted that they had already made their way out of the resort and were trying to cross a stream of water that had formed in the road.
ââ¦We could hear the tree branches falling on the bridge. Then thatâs when I realized. Right after we passed Bambooâ¦we could see the chairs and garbage containers floating, so we had to try and cross. We managed to cross there; we passed the security office and there was nobody there. Pitch black and everything.
âJosell was in front of me and she was holding on to me because she was so scared,â he said. âJosell took one or two steps and when she took the second step, she slipped and how she was holding onto me, I slipped with herâ.
After being carried out to sea by waves, Embeti managed to hold onto a boat that was docked in the Buccament area.
He told SEARCHLIGHT that the last thing he saw of Small was the white of her coat.
âThe first wave came and I was trying to come up for air and I think she (Josell) was still holding onto me. The second wave came and separated us and then she went further. I donât know how it happened, but all of a sudden I felt a boat on my left hand side. I just hold on to the boat and then when I turn around now, all I see is a white for Josellâs coat and after that, thatâs it. Another wave came and I couldnât see her,â the man recalled.
Embeti added that he held onto the boat for at least half an hour before he saw a rope attached to the boat, which was tied to a tree on land.
âI was holding on to that boat for half an hour⦠and I was praying, please donât let me die. I managed to climb up,â he said. âI managed to see the rope thatâs connected to the tree. When I jumped over, it was still shallow and then I hold on to the rope and then I walked all the way inâ.
The restaurant server, who has been employed at the resort for a month and a half, described his co-worker, Small, as a very nice and quiet person and said that he was âjust starting to get to know herâ.
Now traumatized from his experience, Embeti revealed that he is scared to cross the bridge at the resort at night because all he can hear is the river flowing in his direction.
âOne thing I learned from this experience is that you never take life for granted,â he said.
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