Tributes soften dad's heart

KINNESHA GEORGE-HARRY

Emotionally stirring tributes by members of the Mt St George Police Youth Club and Mt St George Football Club made an angry father on Thursday change his opinion at the funeral of his dead son.

Describing his son as a very stubborn little boy, Earl Ramsey, the father of 20-year-old accident victim Taury Ramsey encouraged parents to listen to their children.

Ramsey of Mt St George be­came the coun­try’s first road fa­tal­i­ty of 2020 when he died in an ac­ci­dent on the Claude Noel High­way near the Wil­son Road traf­fic lights, Scarborough short­ly af­ter 1 pm on New Year’s Day. Newsday understands he was coming from a par­ty, So­ca on the Sand, at Pi­geon Point.

Speaking during his son's funeral service at the Mt St George Seventh Day Adventist Church, the father told mourners that he was frequently angry with Taury for not doing what he wanted him to do.

“But then come here now and the way people talk about Taury, I’m ashamed of myself, in a sense, to be angry with him in the way that I was angry.

“So parents, sometimes you have to listen to your kids. I usually listened to him but I wanted him to do otherwise… but look what happen now, Taury was like a golden boy. Taury seemed to be very, very special and I am the only person who never think that way. I think my mind change about Taury and his behaviour… you people changed my mind and thanks very much,” he said.

The church was filled be­yond ca­pac­i­ty as fam­i­ly mem­bers as well as sev­er­al of Taury’s friends at­tend­ed.

Ramsey who lives in the US added, “The both of us were friends, I could talk anything with him, but I couldn’t get him to do what I wanted him to do. He had his way and that is what he wants, you can’t change him.

“Taury had a life to live... I said, 'Taury come to America.' He comes every year and he would say, ‘I’m not staying here, America is not for me’. I begged Taury all how.”

Ac­cord­ing to po­lice, Taury was dri­ving his black Nis­san B13 ve­hi­cle east along the high­way when it col­lid­ed with two oth­er ve­hi­cles at the Wil­son Road traf­fic light in­ter­sec­tion.

Ram­sey’s ve­hi­cle land­ed on its hood on the north­ern shoul­der of the high­way, a few me­tres from the traf­fic lights. His body was re­moved from the man­gled wreck­age and placed on the west­ern side of the high­way and cov­ered with a white sheet.

Hours be­fore his death, Tau­ry post­ed the fol­low­ing mes­sage on his Face­book page: “Tonight no car ac­ci­dents. No DUI’s. No ar­rests. No RIP’s in Je­sus Name Amen."

His father recalled, “Taury believed in God and Jesus. Few young people… he don’t go to church but he believed and once you believe, truly believe… and he put it out there for everyone to see which means that he had respect for Jesus Christ. He showed me, 'Dad, look, listen, I won’t walk your path, I have my path, but I still believe in what you believe in.'

“I do hope that other kids around would do the same thing and believe in Jesus Christ.”

Manager of the Mt St George Football Club, Stephen Lovell described Taury while using the first four letters in his name – Talented/ Tenacity, Aggressive, Unique, Relentless.

“Taury did touch a lot of lives…Our football team… we have indeed lost a brother. We are not going to allow this to keep us down, as a matter of fact, we are going to use this as a motivation.”

Electoral representative for Bacolet/ Mt St George, Assemblyman Joel Jack told mourners that saying goodbye is never an easy task.

“I lost my mom close to two years ago and that pain still lingers, but that pain incomparable to a mother losing her son. Every New Year’s Day for Grace (Taury’s mother) and her family will always be different.

“As we work together, live together and as we play together, we have just about a moment to express our joy, our love, our support for each other. We don’t have time to be at war… time is too short, let us live, let us love, let us be our neighbour’s keeper, that is how we know Tobago, looking out for each other, loving each other, being there for each other,” he said encouraging all gathered to let Taury’s legacy leave an indelible mark on the younger ones.

Of­fi­ci­at­ing priest, Pastor Reynold Lovelace encouraged the large gathering to give their life to Christ.