Tribute to diver Rishi Nagassar on what would have been his 47th birthday on August 11, 2022 on Tik Tok by royalqueeny_21
By Prior Beharry
VANESSA KUSSIE has been crying every day for close to six months since the death of her husband diver Rishi Nagassar.
And today, the tears were flowing since 3 am as it would have been her husband’s 47th birthday.
Nagassar was one of four divers who perished in an underwater pipeline, of Paria Fuel Trading Company, while doing repair work on February 25, this year.
The others were Fyzal Kurban, Yusuf Henry and Kazim Ali Jr who is the son of the owner of LMCS the company they were working for when the incident occurred. Christopher Boodram was the lone survivor.
Nagassar’s three-year-old son Nashhik still asks for his father.
Speaking to AZP News on Thursday, Kussie, of Richmond Street, Perseverance in Couva, said anytime she passes close to the cemetery where Nagassar is buried, Nashhik asks, “My daddy loves me right, mum?”
She said, “Every single time. And I tell him his daddy is in heaven with his friends and I call their names because he knows them – Yusuf Henry, Fyzal Kurban, and Kazim Ali.”
But this morning, Nashhik asked, “Mummy, where daddy really gone?”
Kussie said, she replied that he was in heaven with his friends and she called their names again.
The devout Hindu said she has offered her prayers this morning and will go to her husband’s grave site along with her son. They she will also throw the flowers, that she used for her prayers, into the sea.
Kussie sent fruits for the children to her son’s pre-school next door and intends to make a barbeque later in the day because it was what Nagassar would have wanted.
She pointed out that Nagassar celebrated all of his family members’ birthdays. She sent AZP News photos depicting this.
Kussie said she is not doing good since the death of her husband but is grateful for the support of her family who visited her every day since the tragedy.
“They stay until 11 o’clock in the night,” she said.
After numerous attempts to cast light on what occurred on February 25 and the days that followed when the bodies of the divers were recovered, the Government has set up a Commission of Enquiry into the incident now headed by Jerome Lynch, QC, with subsea specialist Gregory Wilson as the other commissioner. Former attorney general Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj is the lead counsel. Lynch has been appointed after the first chairman Dennis Morrison but pulled out citing personal reasons.
Kussie said she does know how she will hold up when the enquiry gets started as all the facts about the death of her husband will come to light and she will have to live it all over again.
In the meantime, she has her attorney Anand Ramlogan, SC, and said he has been touch but whatever they discuss will remain confidential.
Kussie said she is also in contact with the relatives of the other divers and would send them a text sometimes just to say hello.
She intends to hold a ramayan – a prayer meeting- on August 25 for Nagassar since this will be six months since the incident that led to his death.
Kussie said she was glad for Kevin Lalchan and family who supported all the divers’ relatives and also wanted to mention Anissa of the Kurban clan.
Her friends and family took to social media including Tik Tok to pay tribute to Nagassar.
Kussie said that Nagassar was a great soul as he was always there for her family. She has two bigger children -Nigel, 19 Nickolide, 29 – from a previous marriage after her husband had died of a massive heart attack.
She said Nagassar, whom she met 13 years ago, had a very good relationship with his stepchildren, always supporting and lending a hand to them.
Kussie said, “He was their father figure and now they have none.”
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