Family mourns loss of promising Clarendon teen killed in crash

Last Saturday, Karleen Thompson knew something was wrong with her 19-year-old son Shamoy Thompson, even before she got the devastating news that he died in a three-vehicle collision on Bustamante Highway, metres away from Savanna Cross in Clarendon.

After speaking to him about 11 a.m., Shamoy told her he was on his way home in a taxi.

When the time he should have been home passed, she felt it in her gut that something wasn’t right.

“I didn’t hear any news and I just had this feeling. I felt hot, cold, faint, weak. His youngest sister was helping me to tidy the house, and I said, ‘Britney and Ashley, something is wrong with Shamoy’,” Thompson, a lecturer at The Mico University College, recalled.

She then called the police station expressing concern regarding her son, wondering if he had been caught up in the state of emergency declared in the parish last week.

The police told her he might be caught in traffic as there was a major accident on the highway.

Thompson said she didn’t hesitate, but went straight to May Pen Hospital.

“From the way they were acting, I could tell something was wrong with my son … . I didn’t wait. I just went straight to Witter and Sons Funeral Home … and it was there I identified him,” Thompson said, trying to keep her emotions in check.

EMOTIONAL ROLLER COASTER

“Since Saturday, it’s been an emotionally disturbing roller coaster. I have not eaten, have not had a good night’s rest. [I have been] so down and broken. His siblings are taking it hard. His bigger brother stopped talking, his little sister is crying. His middle brother, usually reserved and quiet, is dealing with it by being overly active,” she told The Gleaner.

Reflecting on Shamoy’s life, Thompson said he was very ambitious and harboured dreams of becoming a pilot. In fact, she was looking forward to him starting his pre-aviation course on Monday.

“He was my everything. He was kind, selfless, caring, too mature for his age. He was the kind of person who would take up everybody’s business – in a good way,” she shared.

An active member of the Longville Park Football Club, Shamoy would look out for others in the community.

Thompson said she was overwhelmed by the turnout and support from the community – young people and adults alike who he had impacted – who visited her crying and expressing how much Shamoy meant to them.

Life will never be the same for Thompson, who said Shamoy kept all her bank cards and basically managed her affairs. He would withdraw money, pay the bills, and remind her when the cooking gas was running low.

Recounting her final day with him, Thompson said they were supposed to go to the supermarket together and her son hurriedly got ready before her.

He told her that he would go shopping, as he would not overspend, unlike her, who might go over budget.

Ironically, if Shamoy wasn’t being a gentleman to the end, he might have been alive. He was seated in the vehicle when the driver needed one more passenger.

“They said when Shamoy looked and noticed it was a lady coming in, he got out to put her inside. She was even protesting about not getting the end. He told her it was his job to protect her. She wasn’t hurt. Had he not changed his seat, he would have been the one alive,” Thompson said, adding that her son lived a good life and his time came to leave.

editorial@gleanerjm.com