‘Everybody is taking it hard’
Seaford Town residents, Mt Alvernia Prep mourn deaths from US aeroplane crash
Published:Friday | July 7, 2023 | 12:13 AMJanet Silvera/Senior Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
A SENSE of devastation has swept over two families in Seaford Town, Westmoreland, as they grapple with the heartbreaking news of the death of their loved ones in a fiery plane crash that occurred in the United States on Sunday.
The victims, identified as 32-year-old Tanique Chue, her seven-year-old son, Sean Gardner, Chue’s friend 42-year-old Suzette Coleman-Edwards, another Jamaican, and her 17-year-old daughter Odaycia Edwards, died tragically when the private aircraft they were travelling in crashed shortly after take-off in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
Chue, a former student of the Anchovy High School, had been residing in New Jersey for a number of years, while Sean, who has been living with his father in Jamaica, had gone to spend the summer holidays with his mom.
The youngster attended the Mt Alvernia Preparatory School in Montego Bay and was expected back in class on September 4.
The incident has thrown the Seaford Town community, their loved ones, and the school family at Mt Alvernia into immense grief.
“Everybody is taking it hard. My brother is devastated. Sean was his only child. It’s rough, very rough. Everyone is rallying around him to try to keep him up because he is worrying like crazy, wondering how he is going to live without his son,” Kenny Gardner, uncle of the dead child, told The Gleaner yesterday.
He said his brother has taken the death so badly he wants to sell the car he had been using to transport his son to school.
“Everybody is staying with him (his brother) to ensure he has company so he doesn’t think too much about it,” said Gardner.
He said his sister-in-law was a very nice person. She was outgoing and liked to explore. She was visiting South Carolina with her friends for the weekend when the incident occurred.
At the same time, the serene halls of Mt Alvernia Preparatory in Montego Bay have been enveloped in an atmosphere of sorrow and disbelief as the close-knit school community is wrestling with the heartbreaking loss of Sean.
His grade one teacher, Roberto Foster, told The Gleaner he was still in a daze, trying to come to terms with the idea of whether the incident had really taken place.
“‘Is this real’? I kept asking myself. I was so shocked when I heard of his death, I was unable to focus,” said Foster. “He was such a loving, charming, and helpful child.”
The educator said Sean was at school up to June 12. Foster spoke of a child who was able to grasp things easily and give compliments with ease.
Principal of the Catholic educational institution, Grace Cherian, spoke of a sweet, promising little fellow, who had so much impact on her that her heart pained at the thought that he had died.
“It just pulls your heart strings. I don’t know what to say. He was such a cheerful child,” Cherian said.
Reports carried across the US state said that the aeroplane, a Piper PA-32R-300, crashed two miles into the flight. The aircraft was being flown by owner/operator Dr Joseph Farnese of a New Jersey address.