Says well-known personality Dawn Cush

SHE knew deep down inside that she should not have boarded the plane that day, but all she wanted was to get home. Little did she know that ignoring her feelings and health that day would cost her a near death experience.
She is former magistrate Dawn Adriane Holder-Cush, 54, a lawyer of 22 years and now Director of the Competition and Consumer Affairs Commission.

Roughly three years ago, she was on a flight from New York to Guyana when she suddenly suffered a seizure. She didn’t see it coming; all she knew was that she wasn’t feeling herself that day.
The plane was forced to declare a medical state of emergency and divert to Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, where Cush had to be hospitalised for four days, two of which she was in an unconscious state. Shortly after returning home, she was again hospitalised at the Woodlands Hospital.

Eventually, though, she began realizing what it was that she was doing wrong in her life that led to her dilemma.
“I didn’t eat well. Health was not a major concern of mine until that incident happened. Before I got ill, I wasn’t feeling well. I knew something was wrong, but I just battled through it. I didn’t listen to my body at all,” Cush related during an interview with the Pepperpot Magazine.

Like many other women, she failed to go for regular health checkups. “Too many women would say they’ve never done a mammogram or a pap smear. I was like that before I got sick. They ran all the tests in the world that they could have ran at the hospital. Other than that, I probably would still not have done those things.”

Once a woman passes the age of 40, though, Cush is advocating that they take their health seriously, particularly if they have dependents.

“Everything was wrong with me so I had to take a lot of treatment and use a lot of medication. One time I had to take as many as 13 pills a day. I wasn’t allowed to drive; I was on extended leave. That brought a new perspective to my life in terms of taking care of myself.”

More water, more vegetables
Cush experience made her more conscious of her health, and today she uses every opportunity to encourage women, in particular, to “hear what their bodies are telling them.”

“Some days you feel lethargic like u don’t want to go to work, just lying down and staying home, and the next day you feel a little better and you get up and are gone again. You feel weak, dizzy and all sorts of things,” she recalled.

“But the doctor has to be your friend. Do all your regular checks, because early detection is the only way for us. Some people will just fall down and die. You have to listen to your body; it will always tell you when something is wrong.”

Cush never paid much attention to things like drinking water or eating a balanced diet. “I now drink and I try to eat greens. Basically, I try to eat sensibly.”

Aim for the skies
Cush was born to Terrence and Doreen Holder in Georgetown. She got married to John Cush last year, an engineer attached to the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Guyana Power and Light Inc. (GPL).

She always wanted to become a lawyer, gleaning whatever she could from her role models who included lawyers like Desiree Bernard and Shirley Field-Ridley. “I always wanted to be a lawyer, nothing else. I used to talk a lot and argue, and my father said I better become a lawyer; always talking, talking,” she fondly recalled. Thanks to the relationship between her parents shared with her role models, she was able to meet them both as a child.
“I have a passion for the law. I’m now involved in competition law, which doesn’t have many practitioners. It’s a relatively new area to Guyana,” she explained.

Cush served as a magistrate for two years and now describes that job as one of the nicest that she’s ever had. “There was never a dull day. I have met people whom I had jailed on the road who hailed me up and said I was always fair when dealing with them. It’s a job I enjoyed immensely.”
The simple, fun-loving, dedicated wife, mother, and grandmother, as she’d describe herself, said while it is not easy balancing all of these areas of life, there’s nothing she would change about her life.

She definitely has goals that she’s working on and may surprise some in the future with her choice of work. “I have a little interest in politics. We don’t know what the future holds with that, but I have always been interested in politics. Maybe in the future, you’ll hear my name in a different circle,” she said while being careful not to let out too many details.
Cush feels that such politicians who are willing to go out and serve people are needed in Guyana. “In my case, it would be to really do something for the women. There is too much domestic violence. I think we need to start looking at ways to help the offender and not simply jail them. We need to have some sort of courses to help them deal with anger management and the like.”

She is advising women to get a good education so that they may be able to lead independent lives. “Aim for the skies, nothing is impossible. If you need help with anything, ask for it. I always encourage women to get a good education so they don’t have to depend on a man for anything,” she said, adding, “It was horrible to see cases where women came for child support at court and the man said it’s not his child. But if you’re going to make a child for somebody you don’t know well, ensure you’re in a position to look after him on your own.”

During her rough times, Cush said she was not afraid to seek out help. She continues to gain lots of help and comfort from her two best friends, Chief Magistrate Ann Mc Lennan and Director of Insurance, Central Bank Tracy Gibson.

Cush attended St. Margaret’s Primary and then went off to Queen’s College and the University of Guyana. She completed part one of the LLB program that was being offered at the time and then subsequently, part two. She graduated in 1995 and then pressed on to the Hugh Wooding Law School where she did the Legal Education Certificate. She was called to the Bar in 1997.

Cush is very attached to her son Kevin and two-year-old grandson Mekhai.