A New Jersey-based Guyanese man is pleading with the citizens of his homeland to adhere to the advice of health professionals regarding the deadly COVID-19 virus to ensure that they have regular check-ups to know what’s going on in their bodies; maintain the specified distance; stay at home if they can; wear face masks and follow the protocols

Marvin Inniss’ plea is a result of the pain he and the family members have endured and continue to bear, following the recent death of his brother, Peter Cave, 47, who succumbed to lung cancer, as stated on the death certificate. He had also been afflicted with the deadly COVID-19, because of his pre-existing condition.

In a telephone interview with the Guyana Chronicle, Marvin said that Peter Cave was warded at the Beth Israel Hospital for six months, during which he underwent surgery to remove a cancerous tumour. It was during the last two months of his hospitalisation that he was diagnosed with the killer-disease COVID-19, and as a result they were no longer allowed to visit him. They were only informed of his death.

For some two months Marvin and other family members were not allowed to visit Peter and even though they were informed of his death, Marvin said it was a heartbreaking and painstaking two days he took to comb through public documents of dead COVID-19 victims and doing searches via social media, in order to find out where Peter’s body was placed..
“The hardest thing and which continues to haunt me is, not one of us, yes, not one of his family could have been there for and with him during his final moments, to say hold his hand. For me, I keep wondering about how his final days and moments,, how lonely they might have been. We would never know if the hospital treated him right, whether he had any parting words. That’s the nature of this COVID-19 illness: you are left alone with other than the doctors and nurses, all of whom would be complete strangers.

“Please, I am begging every Guyanese, I follow the news of my homeland, please follow the protocols, when you don’t you not only endanger, yourself but other family members and others. In New Jersey where I live it is scary, we have over 2000 deaths and some people cannot even give closure to their dead family member/s. When someone dies here from COVID-19, the family has 14 days within which to claim the body and most of the bodies are cremated, because of the guidelines. The unclaimed dead are then taken and placed in a mass grave. That is how painful this satiation is, Marvin lamented.

According to Marvin, who is the last of five children, with the late Peter being the fourth, they lived on Hadfield Street, Lodge, right across from what used to be the race course, before migrating with their mom, Joycelyn Inniss, to the United Stated of America on October 27, 1987. He said the family first lived with his grandmother Edna Inniss, in Brooklyn before they relocated to the state of New Jersey.

He recalled Peter, who fathered five children, Shaun, Christopher,Andrea, Dexter and Samantha, began working as a baggage handler at the Newark Airport in New Jersey. Later, he secured a job at Walmart and due to his dedication received promotions until he attained the position of a manager.

“My brother suffered from skin carcinoma or skin cancer which spread to his arm, brain (for which he had to undergo surgery) and lastly to his lungs. He eventually could not work as he began to complain of chest pains and was again admitted to hospital; then he began having difficulty breathing, Then is when they discovered he had contracted the coronavirus, that caused more complications and. he eventually gave up. His death certificate stated what he died form.”

With evident pain as he related the ordeal, Marvin related, “I am left hopeless and helpless. Guyanese are accustomed to bidding farewell to their dead, we celebrate their life but that was not to be for Peter.”

Marvin was keen to explain that certain funeral homes in New Jersey do not bury COVID-19 bodies; they instead cremate the bodies. This is done after relatives have identified the body, but family members are not allowed to witness the cremation. Instead, they are sent a picture. He said only nine family members are allowed at the home for only 15 minutes prior to the actual cremation and it is required that they are masked, wear gloves and be apart from each other.

Marvin said after much pleading with the management of Cotton Funeral Home, where his family had taken Peter’s body for storage, after he (Marvin) eventually located it by rummaging through the pile of hospital documents of dead persons, they were allowed to give him a “proper” burial on April 12, 2020.

“The management generously allowed us one hour during which we said prayers [and] sang hymns according to the Guyanese tradition;, but the hardest part is we had to look at him from a distance.” Marvin said his mother, his wife, Peter’s girlfriend, Liliana Redonda, and a friend followed the hearse to the Rosedale Cemetery, Orange,, New Jersey, where the body was interred. They, however, were not allowed on the grounds of the cemetery. They stood some distance away on the grounds of an adjacent apartment complex and had to be content with peering over the fence and zooming in with their cameras to get a glimpse of the proceedings, as the rain fell.

Sadly, his children could not pay their last respects to their dad, Marvin said.
Marvin said he again begged and was allowed to ride in the passenger seat of the hearse, but under the condition that once on the grounds of the cemetery he remains inside the vehicle. That is the policy implemented by the cemetery administration as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. On the grounds were five gravediggers, the funeral home director, Macon Cotton, the cemetery’s general manager and a photographer.

Marvin said “I watched with a heavy heart and my inside empty as the funeral director said a quick prayer and the casket bearing my brother’s earthly remains was lowered into the ground. His request was that we should bury him atop his grandmother and that we did. All I could do was snap a picture with the camera [and] that was my only solace. It was over in less than five minutes.”
On this note, Marvin reiterated his plea,” My Guyanese brothers and sisters, this COVID-19 is nothing to joke about, please adhere to the guidelines and keep safe. When this virus infects us, it not only cruels us, but we are alone For those who survive such an ordeal, they have to be thankful,” he concluded, with his voice evidently breaking with sorrow.