Heartbreak – Body of teenage diver washes ashore

Heartbroken parents, sea-faring friends and the village where they all lived collectively grieved for 16-year-old Amali Mayers whose body washed ashore early this morning ending three days of searching for the Alleyne Secondary school boy who went fishing with friends since Friday but never came home.

The Beach Mount, Bathsheba, St Joseph resident was reported missing at sea since last Friday afternoon but this morning one resident of the picturesque east coast area made the grim discovery around six.

Amali’s body was still clothed in the diving suit he was last seen wearing when he along with three others went shooting barracudas just off the bay where he is said to have encountered difficulties.

Residents covered the body with a sheet before his relatives arrived on the scene and to prevent photographs being taken of the young fisherman who played in the school’s band and who was said to loved the sea. Members of the Barbados Coast Guard, the Police Marine Unit aided by scores of independent trained divers had been conducting searches for Amali, himself a qualified scuba diver and licensed fisherman over the last three days.

Scores of people, mostly from the closeknit Tent Bay community, rushed to the area as word spread that Amali’s body was found.

The onlookers huddled together and comforted each other as they waited to get a glimpse of Amali, whose father, a well-known fisherman in the area, identified his only child.

Amali’s friends who often explored the sea with him broke down in tears when they saw the body on a stretcher.

One young man, whom residents said was Amali’s closest friend and diving partner, but who was not there when he went missing, was so overcome with grief that he fell to the ground with tears streaming down his face.

The body was lifted from a 30-foot drop at the bottom of the cliff, to the top, by a group of men from the area who assisted law enforcement officials by forming a human chain link in order to accomplish the task.

Amali’s mother was not present at the scene, but a short distance away, scores of loved ones were gathered offered her comfort and support.

Anthony Hackett, whose son was with Amali when he encountered difficulty at sea said he was feeling a little better that the body had been retrieved.

“I was involved in the search from day one. This is worse than the coronavirus. I had a lot of belly trembling. But now I see the body and we get him up and in the van I feel better. I just feel a little sad but my interest now is my two sons that there breaking down. One got to go home for online school and I don’t know if he could handle it because they are all friends.

“The [Amali’s] dad is holding up pretty good, but probably inside of him burning and he don’t want to express himself. But he tell me he don’t want the mom come down to face this situation because he fear that she might just trip. I understand a mother’s pain. So he actually deal with it all himself,” Hackett said.

Family friend and Member of Parliament for the area, Attorney General Dale Marshall, told members of the media that the teenager’s family and the Tent Bay community are heartbroken.

Marshall said he hoped the discovery puts to rest the uncertainty felt by Amali’s family and friends and brings some closure to all those affected by the loss.

“This is a very difficult time to lose a loved one. This is a community that I am sure would turn out in its hundreds for the funeral, but in this time of COVID-19, that is obviously not possible. So as a community, we have to find a way to celebrate Amali’s life. It is fair I suppose to say that he died doing something that he loved. Now we have to mourn and let the healing begin.

“I don’t think there are any lessons to learn from this, this is just an absolute tragedy. There are no words of wisdom that anybody could offer; this is just heartbreaking. School started back today and it started back without him and he was an amazing young man and a good student,” Marshall said.

Fisherman James Lorde who was the last to see Amali moments before he went on his fishing trip said while he was saddened by the loss, he felt relieved that the body was found to give the family a sense of closure.

“They would never stop looking for him if we didn’t find him. But this is very sad and it wake up everybody. It got people can’t sleep, can’t work, can’t do nothing. Look he real diving partner there breaking down. I don’t know what will happen with him,” Lorde said.

Ron Mayers, Amali’s neighbour and relative, was one of those residents who participated in the early morning search.

Mayers said it was not easy rushing to Amali’s mother’s home to break the sad news about her son who residents described as a loving, kindhearted, and focused individual.

“This is real hard. Amali is the true definition of a good boy. He was so talented. Going to his mother this morning was not easy,” Mayers said.
anestahenry@barbadostoday.bb