PRESIDENT, Dr. Irfaan Ali, joined family and friends of the Kiritpals for the funeral service of their 20-month-old son, Aiden Kiritpal, who died after the vehicle his father was reversing, accidentally ran over him. The service was held on Friday at the family’s home in DeHoop, Mahaica. The Head of State offered his sincere sympathies to Aiden’s family and laid a wreath in his honour. President Ali, who is a father of a toddler himself, urged the Kiritpals to lean on their faith during this sad time. “To the young father and mother, grandparents, relatives, your faith is being tested, your faith is being tried, I ask you to be patient; I ask you to be resolute in your prayers, to be stronger in your devotion to God Almighty and to come closer together as a family. Comfort each other, surround each other with love and spend more time together. While it does not bring complete healing, it gives us an opportunity to re-connect in faith and hope. So, my prayers are with you. My prayers will continue to be with you. I pray that your lives be strengthened, that patience be given to you, and that the love of your child continues to live in you and with you forever.”
The President noted that losing a child is one of the most heart-wrenching pains a parent can feel and that he understands the void that is left in their lives.
He said there is no doubt that young Aiden brought tremendous joy and happiness to the family.
“We all know, those of us as parents, how different it is when a child is in the home and how comforting it is to have them there. The essence of the family has to do with the children themselves. We celebrate their accomplishments, just like our parents celebrated our accomplishments. So, one can only imagine the pain of a parent, the pain of a family when we have to let go of a child. I’m lost for words to express to this family.”
The Head of State added that support to the family is critical to help ease their pain.

“Importantly, we all could contribute to the easing of that pain, through our prayers, through our thoughts, through our kind words. Here is where the support of the wider family becomes more important, to give that support, that encouragement, that love…. It is times like these that a true meaning of community, family, spirituality and communion among members of the mandir become critical in giving that support.”
The President also spoke on the importance of faith, which he said, is necessary in life.
“Important for us to understand too is the role of faith, we have to be strengthened by faith and so it gives us an understanding that we don’t have control over everything and it’s those little things that we don’t have control of that we have to rely on the creator to grant us the strength, to grant us the faith, to grant us the

understanding, to grant us the patience, to grant us the ability to accept what we cannot understand,” he said.
In addition to close family and friends, residents from the community showed up in their numbers to offer their condolences.
After the service, young Aiden was cremated.
Along with the President, Chief Executive Officer of the Guyana Office for Investment (GO-Invest), Peter Ramsaroop; Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly, Lenox Shuman; Member of Parliament, Faizal Jaffarally, and Justice (ret’d) Cecil Kennard were also at the service. (Public Information and Press Services Unit)