TRAGEDY AT SEA

WESTERN BUREAU:

A Trelawny family is now mourning the death of 16-year-old William Knibb Memorial High School student Jahmaree Reid, who perished at sea on Monday, the apparent victim of a shark attack off the coast of the seaside capital.

Late Tuesday evening, when The Gleaner contacted Lavern Robinson, the deceased teen's mother, she struggled for words amid sobs as she mourned the third of her seven children. Robinson said her son was an adventurous youngster who loved the sea, especially for spearfishing, which he was said to be doing when he lost his life.

“He was a good child, very jovial, very loving,” said the grieving mother, who recounted her son leaving to go spearfishing at the crack of dawn.

“He told me he was going to sea, and I was not worried or anything because it was something he would do on a regular basis … . I just expected him to go to sea and come back as he usually did.”

However, on this trip, persons who knew Reid well became curious when they saw his bicycle and his clothes where he would normally leave them, but he was nowhere to be found.

With the night passing and still no sign of Reid, his family members went to the Falmouth location where he left his clothes and bicycle on Tuesday morning. A search led to the shocking discovery of an arm floating in the water.

“I heard a woman saw the hand and raised and alarm,” said Reid's mother. “They began search around in the water and his uncle found the body, which had the head missing.”

An experienced Falmouth fisherman, who saw an arm, which was torn off at the shoulder socket, and the jagged marks of what was left of his neck, said he was certain that Reid was the victim of a shark attack.

DEVASTATED

Robinson, whose voice was almost inaudible as she spoke with The Gleaner, said her Falmouth Gardens family was devastated by her son's death and that tears had been flowing almost non-stop.

“Honestly, I can't describe the feeling. All I can tell you is that it is not good,” said Robinson, who indicated that, in addition to his love of the sea, her son had an interest in athletics.

“I don't know when we are going to stop crying because it is like the shark tear the family apart … . We are all hurting.”

When The Gleaner spoke with Ronald Beckford, a teacher at William Knibb Memorial High, he said Reid's death has saddened the school family.

“He just completed grade 10 and would have been going into grade 11 when school reopens for the new school year,” said Beckford. “I knew him well and I know his father very well … . I know for sure that he lives in a section of Site (Falmouth Gardens) in an area known as 'Over the Hill'. I know his family must be hurting because this is devastating news.”

Some residents were surprised that a shark of the size capable of ripping off Reid's hand and head would be that close to the shoreline during normal weather, and it was believed he was spearfishing in an area generally considered safe.

“Only in really bad weather that one would see a shark close to the shoreline. The size fish they usually go after are way out in the deep,” a fisherman told The Gleaner. “I am really surprised by this attack, and I consider the whole situation as most unfortunate … . Falmouth is in mourning.”

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