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By Sharmain GraingerThe notion that ‘God don’t come but he sends’ suggests to those who live by it that the Supreme Being is always ready to send help in some form or the other when it is needful. This belief is one that resonates well with Kawlapattie Jairam of Belle West, West Bank Demerara, who believes that a hero was sent her way just in time to rescue her from a watery grave.Although it is now more than a decade since her “near death” encounter, ‘Sister’ Ronnie,Cheap Jerseys From China, as she is popularly known, reminisces almost daily on how blessed she is to still be alive.‘Sister’ Ronnie is grateful that her life was spared.She was born and raised at Crane, West Coast Demerara, and even attended Primary school there before undertaking her secondary education at the privately operated Muslim Trust College at Brickdam, Georgetown.It was soon after this she ventured into nursing,China Jerseys Free Shipping, a field in which she has been practicing for 36 years. And since she had completed a Medex Course she was assigned by the Ministry of Health to manage the Hog Island Health Centre in 1997. During an interview with me she recalled that it was on a rather cold day of that same year that she experienced her “near death” encounter.‘Sister’ Ronnie and her family were housed at the upper flat of the health facility but she was required from time to time to attend meetings at the West Demerara Regional Hospital. But the night before travelling to one such meeting she remembers having one of the most disturbing dreams of her life.In the dream, which remains vivid to her even today, ‘Sister’ Ronnie recalls how she was trapped in a dark tunnel with three curves. And as she tried to manoeuvre her way through the darkness,Soccer Jerseys Cheap, the word abyss would appear to her.She was jolted out of her sleep after seeing the word and immediately went to find a dictionary to determine its meaning. She knew the word, of course, but perhaps there was some other meaning, something that would dispel the peculiar feeling that was overshadowing her being.Aside from being described as a flat area on the ocean floor and a deep,Cheap Jerseys Paypal, immeasurable space, it is also said to be anything profound, unfathomable or infinite.Consumed with a feeling that was swiftly developing into actual fear, ‘Sister’ Ronnie would start preparing for her meeting that day. She remembers praying for protection before leaving home, but that did not prevent her from thinking that she was going to encounter something dreadful, perhaps even fatal, that day.She recalled how she quietly boarded a farming boat laden with goods to be transported to the Parika Stelling and that the entire journey saw her being gripped by a sense of uneasiness.“I prayed all the way… but the boat was so loaded that I kept thinking something was going to happen.” Nothing happened.By the time she arrived at Parika, it had started to rain, adding to her concerns as she joined a bus to take her to Vreed-en-Hoop.“I was wondering ‘would the bus end up in an accident?’ In my mind I had this feeling of death that just was not going away,” she disclosed.And although all went well that day, by the time she commenced her return trip the sensations all came rushing back again. But it was less compelling, as by then she was sure that it was only just a feeling, after all, she was heading to the safety of the place she called home.Again a farming boat would be her mode of transportation back to Hog Island, and as the captain of the vessel navigated his way in the river the strangest conversation started. The captain along with the passengers started talking about what each would do if there was an accident. Not wanting to be left out of the verbal exchange, which was quite lively, ‘Sister’ Ronnie confidently informed that despite her not knowing to swim, were there an accident she would simply slip into a water tank that was on the vessel and nothing would happen to her. Others said that they would flip the boat and hold on until they were rescued.There were no boat accidents to report on that day as the boat sailed safely to its intended destination.However, at the time when she was thinking nothing of the anxieties with which she awoke to that day, misfortune would strike. As she, aided by the captain, scaled various articles of items laden on the vessel, including the water tank she had spoken of earlier, to make her exit , something went terribly wrong,NFL Jerseys From China, and her planned step saw her slipping into the river.The tide had just begun coming in and her desperate attempt to find some footing in the water was in fact useless.“I remember somersaulting about three times in this water as I tried to find my balance…” There was no balance for her though, but rather her ears and eyes started burning and she had the unbearable desire to cough. She was drowning.And even as she went down, the captain of the vessel moving merely on instinct plunged into the river in hopes of rescuing ‘Sister’ Ronnie.He found her, but as he tried to pull her up her weight seemed to increase under him, a state of affairs that became apparent to the many onlookers who converged at the scene.And instead of rendering assistance,Wholesale Jerseys Paypal, some were urging the captain to desist from his noble deed as they were of the belief that “once somebody get heavy they are going to die.”Defying the warning, the captain continued his mission, which to the dying ‘Sister’ Ronnie took several minutes. He would succeed and before long she was mounted to the stelling wharf.The minutes immediately after the incident are still not clear to her, but after recollecting herself, a terrified and trembling ‘Sister’ Ronnie was only too anxious to head to the safety of her home.“I was afraid and people kept asking me if I wanted them to do anything for me but I just wanted to go home.”Upon her arrival there she immediately took a bath and headed for bed, and it was under the security of the covers that the gravity of her encounter with death was evoked.“All I could have done was thank and praise God for sparing my life,” said ‘Sister’ Ronnie as she expressed confidence that the captain had been sent as her hero for that day.“I do believe in God because it was he who saved me,” asserted ‘Sister’ Ronnie recently. As such she believes that it is her role to encourage persons to believe in God too since “once you put your faith in Him, He will direct your path and see you through any circumstance.”Today the wife and mother of two children is the Medex in Charge at the Versailles Health Centre and is only too happy to be celebrating yet another Mother’s Day, having had her life dramatically saved so many years ago by a simple boat captain. |
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