Mom strengthened by Cornel’s courage
Published:Tuesday | October 13, 2020 | 12:09 AMChristopher Serju/Senior Gleaner Writer
Cornel Alphanso Grant, affectionately called ‘CJ’, is being remembered for his outstanding courage and faith in the face of overwhelming odds, which now serve as a source of strength for grieving the passing of the Calabar High School student.
Though hurting deeply from the loss of her only son last Saturday, Annmarie Benjamin was resolute that she would draw strength from his brave outlook throughout the almost three years of a bruising battle with an aggressive brain tumour.
“It’s his strength as well as the strength of the Lord,” she told The Gleaner yesterday when asked how he was coping. “He was very strong and always said he never wanted to see me cry. Him always say, ‘Mommy, don’t worry, don’t cry. I’m going to be alright’, and I never saw him shed a tear, so I have to be strong for him.”
Benjamin kept her word until near the end of the interview. After sharing details of‘CJ’s last moments, the memories triggered a crack in her defence as she recalled their strong bond.
“Cornel was my friend, my company, my everything,” she said. “It is going to be hard because I was with him right throughout the sickness. There is no day when he is admitted in the hospital that I am not there, and if he is here (at home) and I have to leave, there is always somebody here with him.”
Despite the pain of her youngest child’s passing, Benjamin is grateful for the strong support from individuals and organisations throughout the journey, including memories they were privileged to create from January when he returned to school at Calabar High School after a two-year hiatus due to ill-health.
“The Calabar family has been there for us from the start and I really want to tell them thanks for that. To the medical staff, I want to say thanks for everything they did because they really went beyond the call of duty and couldn’t do any more because based on how aggressive and far advanced the tumour was. It couldn’t be treated.”
On his return to school at the start of the year, Cornel received a hero’s welcome end expressed gratitude to his family, schoolmates and the wider Calabar fraternity, but singled out grade nine coordinator Rosie Kelly-Jones, who marshalled support to fund his medical intervention, for special praise.
“She was a big influence on me. She would stay and talk with me for hours on hours. If it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t be back at school,” he said then.
17TH BIRTHDAY
Cornel celebrated his 17th birthday on September 21, when his mother made the last appointment for an MRI scan of the brain and spine for today.
Last Wednesday, when she visited him at the St John Golding Rehabilitation Centre, where he was undergoing physiotherapy, Benjamin realised that he was short of breath, but when she returned the following day, she was comforted by the fact that he was breathing better.
By Friday, she began asking the nursing staff if they were aware his condition had deteriorated.
On Saturday, she was there well ahead of opening hours waiting to visit with him when she noticed a flurry of movement among medical staff.
She was told Cornel would be transferred to the Kingston Public Hospital (KPH) and recalls that he was gasping for breath as he was lifted from the ambulance on his arrival.
The doctor with whom she had travelled to the KPH had been busy with paperwork since their arrival.
“Afterwards, she was free and I said, ‘Doctor, can you explain what is happening with Cornel?’ and she said they are trying to resuscitate him, and I asked, ‘Is he not responding and that was when I knew that things weren’t going to be good,” Benjamin told The Gleaner.