In spite of her insufferable loss
AFTER spending the last few weeks in deep sober reflection, and praying and meditating on events in her immediate past, Gomattie Thomas is convinced that she has a lot to thank God for.

Widowed at just 45, Gomattie knows only too well what it means to have ‘lived and loved’ and to have ‘nurtured and lost’.

Little Roberto Thomas shows one of his bullet wounds to Captain Mireille St. Lot of the Salvation Army on one of her visits to his home

The matriarch of a six-member household, the pain of seeing that clan dramatically cut down to half its size at one go was almost unbearable. But through it all, she has never blasphemed, nor allowed her faith to waver.

This was demonstrated following the ghastly events of the morning of January 26 when marauding gunmen stormed her home and snuffed the life out of her husband Clarence; only daughter Vanessa, 12; and 11-year old son, Ron. Her two other children – Howard 19, and Roberto, five, did not go unscathed, and came within inches of death themselves.

Incredibly, not one strand of hair on Gomattie’s head was ruffled throughout the horrendous ordeal. But even more amazing is the fact that young Roberto, who took three bullets from a high-powered weapon, two in the lower abdomen and one in the right leg, was able to survive his injuries and the multiple surgeries it took to make him as close to whole again as possible. And, believe it or not, within two weeks he was well on the road to recovery and eating up all the ice-cream and candies he could lay his little hands on.

Speaking with the Sunday Chronicle recently from her humble home at Lusignan, just a few miles outside the city on the East Coast Demerara, Gomattie recalled that after Roberto was shot, he called out to her. “Mommy, mommy!” she heard him scream but dared not respond lest the gunmen should find out where she was hiding. Luckily for her, the house was in darkness.

“Well! If that’s not a miracle….!” she said. There was no need to finish the sentence. The look on her face, and her body language in general said it all. “I am convinced that God wants my son to live for some special purpose,” she said, a faraway look clouding her vision.

It is with this thought aforemost in mind and a cognizance of the need to constantly strengthen one’s prayer life that she spent last Saturday and Monday, ‘International Women’s Day’ and ‘International Day of Prayer’ respectively, two significant days in the lives of troubled women the world over, in intense prayer and meditation.

And, coming out of that retreat, she is now in an even better frame of mind and is able to assure her sister Guyanese womenfolk and women beyond our borders that no matter the circumstances, they should never, ever, make the mistake of “flying in God’s face” but rather see good in whatever befalls them and give Him thanks…always.

As for the horrific events of January 26 which claimed 11 lives in the village, she said that that incident has marked a defining moment in her life, as tt was but the first step of a journey towards a deeper and more profound understanding and appreciation of the promise of God’s Word, as against being motivated by one’s own feelings or emotions.

As a Christian, she says she’s learnt to see the promise of God’s word as ‘our authority’. The Christian lives by faith, she says, in the trust-worthiness of God Himself, and the promises of His Word. One such promise is that: “He will neither leave us, nor forsake us, but He will be with us always – even unto the ends of the earth.” And that is what she is proving daily.

Having her two sons back home with her after being in hospital, where they both spent just over a month, is the greatest joy she has experienced since the sordid event, she said.

Her bubbly ‘miracle baby’, Roberto, who spent the better part of a month in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the Georgetown Hospital, where he was initially on life support systems, was discharged a little over a week ago. On leaving the ICU, he was transferred to the Paediatric Ward where he had practically become the centre of attraction. The rather vivacious busy-body five-year-old is a virtual ‘live-wire’. Happily reunited with his mother, he is now a great source of inspiration in her life, and is doing much to keep her lively, Gomattie said.

Her eldest, is elder brotherRoberHoward, who sustained two gunshot wounds to the right arm, was also recently discharged from the same institution as his baby brother. He’d spent almost a month in the High Dependency Unit (HDU).

Having already had multiple surgeries to correct shattered bones in the arm, the teen is expected to have further surgical intervention sometime soon, but for now is doing just fine. With the support of a mother who knows the power of prayer – Howard and Roberto will soon be leading normal lives once more.