Tears flow freely at Joshua’s funeral

MATHEW ALEXANDER, grandfather of the six-year-old schoolboy who died after being thrown from a car at North Post Road in Diego Martin, fought to hold back the tears as he read the eulogy at the funeral of Joshua Nicholas William Atwell. Yesterday, scores of mourners gathered at the Diego Martin Seventh Day Adventist Church at Chow Quan Avenue to pay their last respects to Joshua. The Tranquillity Primary School second-year student was thrown from the car driven by his father Paul last Wednesday. Joshua was rushed to the St Clair Medical Centre, where he was treated and one of his lungs removed, but the second lung was discovered to be only partially functional.

Joshua died early Friday morning without regaining consciousness. An autopsy revealed death was due to swelling of the brain and internal haemorrhaging. In delivering the eulogy, Alexander described his grandson as an angel. He said it would be difficult to fill the space left by Joshua. “Joshua was the light in my life and I will miss his voice asking, ‘Where is Pappa,’ said Alexander, as his voice cracked with emotion. In the front row of the church, Che, Joshua’s younger brother, cried openly in grief, while being hugged by his father Paul. His mother Wendy, who is eight months pregnant, mourned silently with tears streaming down her face. Students of the Tranquillity Primary School rendered a song in memory of Joshua. The child was laid to rest at the Carenage Cemetery.