Flight attendant laid to rest

The flight attendant who was killed in a freak motorbike accident 26 hours before she would have celebrated her 26th birthday, was laid to rest at the Tunapuna Cemetery yesterday, following a funeral service in Arima.

Yesterday, the chapel at Allen’s Funeral Home, Arima, was packed to capacity  as flight attendants, pilots, employees of Caribbean Star, friends and relatives of Beena Rampersad turned up to pay their last respects. Rampersad, a flight attendant with Caribbean Star, who was planning to marry her live-in boyfriend, was killed instantly in a freak motorbike accident at Mayfield Road, Valsayn. Her boyfriend Marvin Wilson, 28, is at the Intensive Care Unit of the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex suffering from severe head injuries. Newsday learned that up until Monday he had not been told of the death of Rampersad.

Reports revealed that Rampersad, who lived at Greenvale, Avenue, Valsayn, with Wilson, returned from Antigua on Saturday. Around 9.30 pm, Wilson was riding his motorbike west along Mayfield Road in company with Rampersad, the pillion rider, when he lost control of the bike, and struck a palm tree. The bike then slammed into a wall and the two suffered massive injuries. They were rushed to hospital where Rampersad was pronounced dead on arrival. At the fuuneral service yesterday, Sharon Ramkisson, a relative of the deceased, cried openly as she delivered the eulogy. She said that she had planned to be one of the speakers at the wedding of Rampersad and never thought for a moment that she would be delivering the eulogy instead. She said that Rampersad was always a cheerful, happy person, and she considered her like “a little sister.” “Because of a senseless accident, my “little sister” who would have turned 26 on Monday is dead and it makes no sense,” she said.

Ramkissoon pointed out that Rampersad was noted for making a tasty “chow” and was the heart, soul and belly of her father. She added that based on the turnout at the funeral she is sure that Rampersad was loved and would be sadly missed. Pastor Ken Guth, who officiated at the funeral, asked mourners to pray for the grieving members of the Rampersad family. Newsday was prevented from taking pictures inside the chapel because a relative claimed that it was a private funeral.