– along with stranger who went down after helping to keep her afloat
Eighteen-year-old MV Barima survivor Alisha Atkinson is still struggling to come to terms with the loss of her daughter, who died in the July 18 disaster. More than a month after the tragedy, she continues to grieve for her child, recalling the close bond they shared.
“I miss her a lot. She is my lil partner. We used to gaff and she used to help me out,” she shared in tears while speaking to Kiskadee Watch last Friday evening. “Now it’s me alone,” she said, struggling to get her words out.
Atkinson, of Kairuni Village, was among the families invited by Leader of the Opposition Azruddin Mohamed to the launch of HERO (Humanitarian Emergency Relief Operation), a humanitarian initiative intended to support those affected by the disaster.
Recalling the ordeal, Atkinson said her three-year-old daughter was sleeping on a bench while she was sitting with her 11-month-old son in her hands. The boat started to cant and before she knew it, she was already in the water. She barely got to pick up her daughter.
“I saved the boy but somebody rushed out the girl from my hand,” she said, recalling how she was holding both children in her hands. “So when I was swimming up with my foot, my daughter just gone.”
Atkinson recalled shouting for help to save her children. A man was nearby her but she couldn’t see him. She heard his voice telling her to hold on to a piece of vinyl which helped considerably. “Sudden so, he just gone down right in front me. He was also holding on to it and he gave me it to hold on to save me,” she shared.
“I feel bad about this. I didn’t even see his face; just hear his voice…”, she said.
Although Atkinson knows how to swim, she said she almost gave up the fight to stay alive as her feet had gotten stiff in the water. She was eventually able to place her baby on the piece of vinyl while she held on to him and struggled to stay afloat in the water.
They had to be in the water all night and were rescued until 7 the next morning. She knows this because she recalls asking the rescuers the time when they picked her up.
For now, Atkinson lives with her mother, who is the family’s sole breadwinner, and her two siblings.
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