WCB man recalls not being able to find wife, 3 kids after boat sank within seconds; grandmother says “I tell them not to go”

An emotional Nathaniel Matabheek recalls the moment MV Barima started to tilt to the side, going underwater and capsizing in less than a minute, resulting in his family going missing.

The Bush Lot, West Coast Berbice, man was at the time travelling with his wife, Rachel Welch, and their three children – eight-year-old Nathaniel Jr., five-year-old Nathalia and three-year-old Ezekiel. Nathaniel’s brother, Adam Matabheek, and his wife, Carlita also called “Rebecca”, were also on the vessel. They were on their way to Smith Creek in the North-West District, Region One, to visit Welch’s ailing mother when tragedy struck.

Nathaniel recounted that the boat sank so fast that no one could have done anything. He couldn’t even save his wife and children.

“The boat cant over and me get cover up underneath… Me deh fight up fuh get out [under the water] and me nah know how me find one spot fuh come out. And when me come out, me search, search and watch, me nah see them [his wife and kids] back. Me nah know if the boat suck down them or the boat cover them or what. Me na know,” the grieving man recalled.

Nathaniel, along with his brother and sister-in-law, managed to survive the ordeal. Though he thought about giving up after being unable to find his family, Nathaniel’s older brother and sister-in-law held onto him, and the three managed to stay afloat until help arrived.

After being rescued, they were taken to the Charity Hospital, where they received medical attention and were subsequently relocated to the Essequibo Technical Institute, where a makeshift shelter has been set up for survivors and family members, as they eagerly await news of the missing woman and three children.

Meanwhile, back at Bush Lot, the children’s grandmother, Bebi Matabheek, could only wait and pray.

Speaking through tears, she recalled that although she understood why the trip had become necessary, she never wanted her family to make the journey by boat.

Long before they left home on Saturday evening, Bebi pleaded with them to reconsider.

“I was telling them not to go… I was telling them to leave the grandchildren, but after the other grandmother said she wanted to see them, that is why they had to go,” the woman related.

She explained that the children were not accustomed to travelling by boat, and Rachel herself had not returned to the North-West District since getting married about nine years ago.

According to Bebi, she learnt the news of the incident from a neighbour on Sunday morning. Since then, relatives began telephoning everyone they thought might know something, hoping someone – anyone, could give them some information. Hours later, they learnt that Nathaniel, his brother and sister-in-law survived.

But with no word still about Rachel and her three children, relatives are clinging to hope.

The grandmother said she refuses to believe that all hope is lost.

“I hope them to come back safely. I love them. I love my grandchildren. I don’t want anything to happen to them.”

The children were a constant presence in her life. They often spent nights with their grandparents. They ran around the yard, played with the other grandchildren and filled the house with the kind of noise only young children can make. Those visits had become part of the family’s routine, and she looked forward to them.

Bebi said she keeps replaying the family’s departure in her mind, wondering if there was anything more she could have said to persuade them not to make the trip. She recalled the children saying goodbye to her before leaving home.

“Yesterday, when they were leaving, they came and gave me a kiss… [One of the grandsons] said, ‘Bye-bye Grandma. Bye-bye Grandpa’,” the woman recalled.