Remembering Ryan Taylor

By Michel Outridge

ON October 9, 2019, when the young, driven Ryan Taylor died after the mining pit in which he was working caved in, the lives of many people changed drastically, including that of his 12-year-old daughter.

The Pepperpot Magazine recently had a conversation with the mother of Taylor’s eldest child, who explained that the young girl is barely coping and believes that she needs to talk to a counsellor.

Rebecca (not her real name), related that at 12 years old her father was her first love and best friend and his death has left a gaping void in her life.

She stated that her daughter has her days, some days are worse than others ever since they received the news of his tragic demise.

“With reality setting in that her father is no more, she is still grieving and I doubt she will be able to lead a normal life because of how close they were; and she misses him a lot and I can see how that is affecting her,” Rebecca said.

She explained that whenever he is out of the interior, he would take his daughter out and spend time with her and she was happiest then.

Rebecca added that up to recently, the teen was telling her that she wouldn’t be able to go out with her dad to get ice-cream as before. They used to go to a café not far from her school and they would chat during those outings.

The woman recalled that just the other day, the teachers telephoned her to say that her daughter was having a really bad day and she was crying a lot, because she was sad, remembering her father.

Although Taylor has two other children, he treated them all the same but with his first-born, he was very supportive and they spent a lot of time together; as such, she was very attached to him.

Rebecca told the Pepperpot Magazine that her daughter is her only child and she will do whatever it takes to help her to lead a normal life, even though she is still grieving and it is difficult to watch her some days.

“I knew Ryan a long time, we grew up as children in Robb Street. We went to the same primary school and we played as kids before he moved to Alberttown and he was a very humble, giving young man, who liked to spread joy; and he would give of his last just to put a smile on someone’s face,” Rebecca said.

She added that a few days before the mining accident that claimed his life, they spoke via the telephone and he was asking about his daughter, her school and how she was doing and that was typical of him.

“He was always concerned about his daughter and her studies. She wants to become a lawyer and they had a long chat about that and that is how he was; and she had to get a particular rock for an assignment and he was expected to get it for her,” Rebecca said.

The woman added that before his demise, he told his daughter that he was very proud of her and would always be and how much he loved her; and she is standing by those words to keep going, even though she is not herself, she is trying to cope.

Ryan’s spot
At a shop in Second Street, Alberttown, where Ryan Taylor used to hang out, the night of his funeral service there wasn’t a dry eye, because he had touched many lives in some way and that night was dedicated to his memory.

Taylor had many friends and at his shop, everyone who frequented the place knew him and he would engage them in friendly chats.

One friend, called ‘Sleepy,’ told the Pepperpot Magazine that he misses Ryan because they used to sit and chat about a lot of things and he treated him well, because they grew up in the same neighbourhood and had a lot in common.

“A very good young man died as soon as he had made something of himself and was earning a bit and didn’t live to see his children grow up and that’s sad,” ‘Sleepy’ said.

Almost everyone at the shop, including the proprietors, all had good things to say about Ryan and the kind of person he was; he will be remembered because he was kind and did things out of the goodness of his heart and impacted the lives of many.

Ryan Taylor, who was attached to Troy Resources Inc., died during the wee hours of October 9, 2019, after the mining pit in which he was working caved in.

Taylor, 34, of Albert Street, Alberttown, Georgetown, was a geologist and reports indicated that he was working in the pit at the company’s operations in the Cuyuni/Mazaruni district sometime after 02:00hrs when its walls collapsed, covering him with dirt.