Support young men before it’s too late

Twenty-four-year-old Matthew Levi Caesar, an undergraduate engineering student at the University of the West Indies, a prolific football player, a resident of San Fernando and a past student of Naparima College, overcame a lifetime of challenges and was looked upon as a role model and exemplar by those who knew him.

It is ironic that while he gave his best to society, the only solace he could find was in his own hands, taking his life by suicide.

Caesar’s passing should remind us of some basic values that we as a people in this once beautiful and peaceful land have forgotten. We are no longer our brother’s keeper and so we cannot hear their cries for help or feel their unseen pain. We are cold, disconnected and caught up only in our own world and so we cannot reach out to others in their times of need, when a helping hand is critical.

The only hope that Caesar had before his suicide was to hear the comfort of an anonymous human voice at the other end of the telephone line. But when he called there was no voice to talk him out of his troubled state. And so his hope changed into the Gramoxone bottle, his only companion on an empty football field under the blanket of night.

There were no loved ones, no childhood friends and no university colleagues to whom this young man felt he could reach out to for help.

Suicide data in TT has shown that a ratio of six male suicides to one female suicide exists, and some years ago the World Health Organisation confirmed that suicide is on the rise in this country.

Recent studies have indicated that mental health in TT has been declining since 2008. The same studies indicated that young adults may be placed in situations or have experiences which may cause them to feel a sense of social disconnection and together with depression and confusion the answer results in the choice to commit suicide.

While I extend deepest sympathy to Caesar’s family it is my hope that communities wake up and pay attention to the needs of young men, listen and lend support. In this way we would have reached out and not have failed them.

Rest in peace Caesar and may we learn our lesson from your passing.

Marvin Ramnarine president, Rotary Club of Pointe-a-Pierre