Siblings die hours apart

THE sudden death of Natasha "Nysha" Sylverton, 43, last week Monday shocked relatives and left them pondering how to break the news to her ailing brother.

But before they had a chance to tell Linton "Boxer" Silverton, 47, about his sister's death, he died midmorning the next day at the San Fernando General Hospital.

Silverton, a bar owner, died of TB while Sylverton, a supervisor at Amalgamated Security Services Ltd, suffered a massive heart attack. She was the mother of two and grandmother of one. Their joint funeral is scheduled for Wednesday at Streams of Power church at La Rufin Road, Moruga, followed by burials at the Gran Chemin cemetery.

Their bereaved sister Lisa Sylverton told Newsday that last week Monday morning, after returning home from work, Sylverton called and complained about chest pains and breathing problems. She later collapsed.

Sylverton who lived at St Mary’s Village managed to call an ambulance which took her to the Princes Town District Health Facility, unknown to Lisa, who lives at La Rufin Road.

"When I get the call on Monday around 11 pm, I thought it was about Boxer, not knowing it was her. Nysha was not a sickly person. Everyone was in shock. She went alone in the ambulance and died at Princes Town since around 5 pm," Lisa said. On the brink of tears, Lisa recalled she had spoken at length with Sylverton hours before her death.

"Two of his nieces were practising a eulogy for Boxer while I was talking to her. I said, 'You listening to what they are saying?' We expected him to die," Lisa said.

"He was hospitalised for about a week earlier. He died without knowing Nysha had died. People are asking if he heard the news, no he did not." She said that between last week Sunday and Monday, a plate, a pyrex dish and a pressure cooker's handle broke, all of which she took as signs of death in the family.

"It was from one thing to the next. We thought it was Boxer," Lisa said. Silverton owned Streeters Bar at Gran Chemin. He lived alone and had no children. Lisa has two surviving siblings, a sister and a brother.

"He is not taking it well either. He is in Canada, so he cannot attend the funeral," Lisa said. "Boxer’s wife died exactly a year ago from the day he died. She was a sickly person."