Lose both sons or save one

Noel Crawford, a father of three was faced with a painful decision  — lose both his sons or try to save one.  In the end, Crawford saved  his 16-year-old son, Roland. He watched as his eight-year-old, Joshwa,  was dragged beneath the waves at Constance Estate in  Icacos on Saturday. Joshua’s body was washed ashore around 1.45 pm yesterday, a short distance from where he had disappeared.

According to reports, Joshwa and his brother, Roland, 16, got into difficulties after they drifted from their relatives out into the sea. “The ladies and the children were bathing in waist high water. When we realised Joshwa and Roland had drifted away, we started calling on them to come back,” their sister Roshida, 21, told Newsday from their Craignish Village home in Princes Town yesterday. With tears streaming down her face, she said when they realised the boys were in difficulty her father, Noel, tried to rescue them. “But his feet were not touching the sand and he realised he too would be in difficulty. So he had to come back to the shore,” she said.

“Roland was holding Joshwa’s hand. My father was calling to them, telling them to try and come back. Roland said Joshwa was keeping him back. “My father was shouting to Roland that one of them had to try to come back, or they would both drown,” she said. A weeping Roshida said the undercurrent swept Joshwa underwater as her older brother swam to shore to save his own life. Joshwa’s godmother, Natalie Elliot, said fishermen threw their nets and searched the water with their boats, but could not find his body. She said his parents, Noel and Joy, who are both teachers, remained in Icacos to assist in the search for their son. Elliot said Joshwa, a pupil of the Princes Town RC School, was looking forward to going back to school and was excited about his promotion to Standard Three. Cpl Felix of the Cedros Police Station is continuing investigations.