A mother’s grief: Surviving the MV Barima tragedy with her brave daughter, but losing beloved son

When Anndyar Deally left Georgetown aboard the MV Barima on Saturday afternoon, she allowed herself to rest in a hammock she shared with her 16-year-old son, Andriel Bautista. She knew she would be awake later that night to watch over Andriel and her eight-year-old daughter, Josmary Deally as they travelled home to Port Kaituma.

Little did she know that it was that decision to rest early and stay awake later that made all the difference when the tragedy struck as the vessel capsized late Saturday night.

In an interview back in Port Kaituma, from her house overlooking the waterfront area where the MV Barima was supposed to dock, Anndyar recalled the chaos that ensued when the boat capsized. She had only just left the hammock she was lying in with her son, to escort her daughter to the washroom. When the vessel capsized soon after, Anndyar was flung into the water, separated from her daughter and unsure of where her son was.

At first, hungry waves threatened to swallow her whole. She fought the rough waters until she realised her best bet was to remain calm, swim, and find something to hold onto until help came. She found a mattress.

Though she was fighting to survive, her concern remained with her children. Minutes seemed like hours, and hours seemed like days, but in the dark of the night, a voice pierced through the darkness — Anndyar heard her daughter was nearby.

The mother and two men who shared the mattress with her managed to get closer to young Josmary eventually and some relief flooded Anndyar when she saw her baby girl again. Not only that, Josmary told her mother of her heroic efforts to save someone else — a 13-year-old resident of Port Kaituma.

“Afterwards when we deh waiting, waiting, waiting, she start telling me she experience,” Anndyar said.

“She (Josmary) said, ‘Mommy when I fling out the boat, I gone straight down… mommy me had to help… I had to push she up, mommy. Me tell she [the teenager] ‘wait lil bit, me gon go up quick, ketch me breath and come down back’ and push she up and push she up.”

Josmary and the teenager clinged to an ice pitcher and there they stayed until Anndyar and the mattress crew found them. Reunited, the mother and daughter duo spent hours praying and wondering where Andriel was.

However, Andriel was not rescued. His body was recovered days later.

Andriel was a 16-year-old student of the Port Kaituma secondary School. And Anndyar said the loss of her only son is one she doesn’t know how to grapple with.

“He was a lovely person. Normally, when he come from school, he would come through the door and when I in the kitchen, he would hug me and kiss me up. He like fuh hug me and kiss me up,” Anndyar recalled fondly.

The mother also said Josmary and Andriel were incredibly fond of each other. Though they have their own rooms, the brother and sister would often find themselves chatting and playing with each other until they fell asleep.

“The two of them were close, so close.”