Jamaica Gleaner

We have lost one of the best – Spot Valley principal

- Paul Clarke Gleaner Writer

WESTERN BUREAU NE OF our best is gone,” said a saddened Angella Williams, principal of Spot Valley High School in St James, in her initial reaction to the unfortunat­e death of the school’s Under-19 basketball player Saymar Ramsay, who died of a heart failure last Friday.

“The news of his sudden and most unexpected passing took me by utter surprise,” Williams said.

“I knew him as a very humble student, who you could depend on to assist with any task. He was such a beautiful soul and I feel deep sorrow for his family, who will have to live without his presence,” she told The Gleaner at a special devotion dedicated to his memory yesterday.

The 17-year-old was among his teammates aboard the school bus en route from an ISSA Western Conference U-19 Basketball Championsh­ip game against Cornwall College, when he suddenly fell ill, slumped in his seat, and became unresponsi­ve.

Bus driver Lenworth Gayle said he drove directly to the nearby Hospiten medical facility at Rose Hall, where a team of doctors tried to revive him. News filtered out that he had died while undergoing treatment.

“We all were shocked; this could have been any one of us. But knowing it was this young man was truly heart-wrenching because he was such a quiet person. A real good youth has passed. May God bless his soul,” said Gayle.

Meanwhile, tears flowed Spot Valley High School teachers embrace in a moment of grief during a special devotion in remembranc­e of Saymar Ramsay, the school’s basketball player who died Friday of a heart attack.

openly at the special remembranc­e service, as teachers and students tried their best to comfort each other.

Williams recounted Ramsay’s daily routine. She said he walked to school and back home from the community of

 ??  ?? Spot Valley High School principal Angella Williams.
Spot Valley High School principal Angella Williams.
 ?? PHOTOS BY COURTNEY LOCKE ??
PHOTOS BY COURTNEY LOCKE

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