There is a saying that time heals all wounds. It’s almost two years (January 2nd will make it two years) since the death of boxing icon, Jizelle Salandy in a car accident.
Although time has passed, Salandy’s friend, national footballer Tamar Watson who survived the tragic accident, still has her sad reflective moments but healing has begun for the 22-year-old.
“January 2nd, 2009 will always be on my mind. Since then Christmas is always a very solemn time for me,” Watson confesses. Keeping Jizelle’s memory alive through active continuation of the boxing queen’s charities has helped a great deal with Watson’s healing process. “This year I graduated from Shorter College, Georgia so I have begun working with Jizelle’s charities. She was a very charitable person. She never wanted anything to come in the way of her charities; not her hectic schedule nor her bouts. I don’t think she would have liked her work to stop not even with her death, hence I am taking the initiative to keep them alive. Jizelle would have had it no other way,” says the business management graduate.
Salandy was involved in various charitable missions. Just before her death she had conducted her annual “eat up” for New Year’s Eve at the Brian Lara Promenade where she fed vagrants and homeless people. Tamar Watson also assisted her in her last good deed and did the same thing this year but on December 30th, the day of her birthday. “Every year Jizelle would visit senior citizens, homeless people, provide food for poor families and conduct visits at St Jude’s Home. She used to also host a Christmas Children’s party in her neighbourhood,” Watson informs. The 2010 Christmas season was a busy one for the La Brea resident. Her plate was full with her new philanthropic duties. A month ago she visited St Jude’s Home to the delight of the girls, some of whom were very close to Salandy.
Many saw Watson as a replacement for their former role model. “When they saw me, they were very happy. They wrote letters to me telling me about their life and their struggles. I will respond to their letters very soon. These self-awareness workshops are very rewarding to me. I feel very fulfilled when I see the difference I can make in the lives of T&T’s youth,” she divulged.
The two weeks prior to Christmas, Watson played the role of Santa Claus purchasing groceries and spreading goodwill to a family in Broadway, San Fernando. “The family comprised 11, one single mother and ten children ranging in ages from 5 months to 16 years of age. They were ecstatic to receive the help. The eldest girl, was babysitting when I arrived. Her mom was at work. She cried when she saw me. It was amazing to hear of the large responsibility she had to carry out and the hardships her family faced on a daily basis. I was touched by this story and I realised that we complain so much about simple things while there are a lot of people suffering more than we are.” Watson hopes to pay another visit to the home very soon but this time to help her new friend with her studies. “She is supposed to do CXC exams very soon, so my friend Krechel and I are going back to help her with studying.”
While Watson has been using her own money to fund these goodwill projects, a great deal of support is also being provided by Salandy’s former trainer and coach, Buxo Potts. “Buxo also wants to continue Jizelle’s work. He is assisting me with these charities and on the boxing end, he conducts six-month boxing workshops to celebrate Jizelle’s life.” she added.
In the future, in addition to fulfilling her dream of becoming a football coach (she is already coaching Naparima Boys’ College and Holy Faith Convent football teams), Watson will like to become more active in motivating the youth of Trinidad and Tobago. Her most recent plans however include organising gift bags for 100 underprivileged children in her town and playing football matches for her team at the Eddy Hart League as she celebrates her re-entry into football since the accident.
Watson celebrated the New Year with family and friends.
“Life has its ups and downs but we must celebrate it and try to enhance the life of others. Too much time is spent focusing on the material aspects of Christmas. It’s not about toys and tangible gifts but the gift of love which actually doesn’t cost a thing.” she concluded.