Hochoy’s son dies at hospital

BITTER political rivals in Monday’s Tobago House of Assembly (THA) elections put aside politicking and their differences to instead be united in grief yesterday, following the sudden death of DAC Leader Hochoy Charles’ 31-year-old son, Waynestein. Charles’ son died around  4 am at Scarborough General Hospital (SGH) yesterday. Newsday understands that up to the time of his death, the younger Charles was busy working the campaign trail with his father as Tobago prepared to go to the polls in the next 48 hours. A confident Waynestein had predicted victory for his father and the DAC when polls closed on Monday.

In a brief interview early yesterday morning, the usually fiery Charles, who was a former Tobago NAR leader, said his son complained of a cramp in his legs on Wednesday night for which he was treated at the SGH and discharged. Charles said when he returned from a public meeting in Mt Grace on Thursday night and checked on his son, Waynestein complained that he was experiencing chest pains. The younger Charles was taken back to the SGH where he subsequently died. According to medical sources, the autopsy performed on Waynestein’s body yesterday at the SGC’s mortuary indicated deep vein thrombosis as the cause of death.

However forensic pathologist, Dr Hughvon Des Vignes, has also ordered that a toxicology report on the younger Charles be submitted to him. The DAC leader said both he and the rest of his family were “holding up as well as could be expected.” Waynestein is a former member of the TT Defence Force and had left the Force, following his father’s defeat in the 2001 THA elections. He had been working in the family-owned gas station in Plymouth and a restaurant/bar in Golden Lane. Charles (Hochoy) has two other sons and a daughter. When Newsday visited Charles’ hilltop residence in Golden Lane, the DAC leader was present and asked that the media “show some respect for the dead.” 

Charles said he was attending to family matters and was not in a position to deal with any other issue. The mood at the Charles residence was sombre as several DAC members, relatives and residents came to express their condolences to the family. While most Golden Lane residents declined comment, some said the entire community was in shock over Waynestein’s death and he was well-liked by all. In Plymouth where Charles’ family operates an NP gas station, residents in that area said they were deeply saddened to learn of the younger Charles’  passing. One elderly woman said Waynestein was a hard worker, a person of tremendous generosity and he would be sorely missed. She added that all members of the Charles family were actively involved in the DAC’s election campaign, particularly within the Plymouth/Golden Lane seat where the DAC leader is the incumbent.

DAC chairman Ashworth Jack said the entire party was shocked and saddened by Waynestein’s passing and is lending whatever support it could to the Charles family at this time. In a statement yesterday, THA Chief Secretary Orville London extended condolences to the Charles family on behalf of both the THA and the people of Tobago. London subsequently told Newsday he spoke personally with Charles, as one parent to another and as one Tobagonian to another. PNM Tobago chairman Neil Wilson expressed condolences on behalf of the ruling party. “We empathise with him (Charles),” Wilson said. 

NAR Tobago chairman Christo Gift, who had been highly critical of both Charles and former NAR Tobago leader Cecil Caruth during the election campaign, also expressed his personal condolences to Charles and said he instructed the NAR’s secretary to dispatch a letter of condolence to the DAC leader on behalf of the party. Checks with the two funeral homes on the island indicated that the Charles family has not made funeral arrangements as yet and the funeral might take place after Monday’s elections.