On Saturday morning, two families in the Corozal District awoke believing that their young sons, aged 20 and 21 were at home safe in bed sleeping.
But they had died hours earlier on the Phillip Goldson Highway in a terrible pre-dawn collision.
Jomarie Lanza headed north today and met with the grieving families of both young men. Here is that story.
This 3 second clip of a motorcycle speeding was one of the last things 20 year old Renick Rj Chavarria had uploaded to his instagram story the morning of his untimely death, a chilling foreshadowing of one of the worst motorcycle accidents in memory. Chavarria was on the back of this motorcycle being driven by 21 year old Jael Guzman, when he lost control of the bike and swerved head first at full speed into a bus that was transporting workers near mile 77 in Concepcion village. Witnesses say that the aftermath of the scene was traumatic for them, but nothing compared to both families of the young men who awoke with the belief that both of their sons were in their bed's sleeping.
Their mothers remembered the last nigh they spent with their sons:
Voice of: Leidy Guzman, Mother of Deceased
"I reached around 9:00 on Friday night at home. He was already at home waiting for me because every night we would have dinner together with his other siblings and he told me how the interview went and how he was so happy looking forward to another job. He told me mom I went to San Pedro and I got sick and he was starting with a flu and I told him son I brought you a barbecue a pork barbecue ribs and he had dinner with us and he told me mom ill take a shower and I told him okay son I thought he was going to rest that night. I saw him take a bath and go to his room so I went and I showered and I went to my room, I was in my room when I heard the motorcycle start and I said Ja and he said mom? Where are you going? He said I'm going out for a little while mom. I'm coming back. I won't take long and that was his last words."
Voice of: Emerita Bartley, Aunt of Deceased
"A very happy young soul, loved to hang out loved to be with friends and family the night he came home he was so happy he sat down and spent all his time with us he spent about 2 or 3 hours just talking, playing games, sharing money with his sister and cousin to buy coke and soft drinks so they can drink. And I'm not sure what time he went and usually, when I left from here that night I told him goodnight "gyalis" because that's how I call him he is my "gyalis" and I said goodnight "gyalis" and goodnight aunty he said, tomorrow."
"Nobody knows when he gone we had advised him when he came in because he told his mom he wanted to go to Orange Walk his mom told him why will you go you don't have to go anywhere he just came in after three weeks he just came in from San Pedro. Why will you go? Nobody knew what time he left his mom woke up that morning thinking he was still in his bed sleeping not knowing that he had already died from about 3:00 the morning so it is really rough and hard to process knowing that your child is suppose to be in there sleeping and he went out so that is how it stayed."
Both Chavarria and Guzman were close school buddies, and both of them had just begun to find their footing in the working world, with a promising future ahead, but all that was lost in the blink of an eye. And both families had no clue of their fate till hours after the accident.
Voice of: Leidy Guzman, Mother of Deceased
"When I woke up 5:30 in the morning first thing I did I called my son and he didn't answer and I kept calling and calling and no answer so I figured and I thought he was with his other cousin, his cousin that he grew up with as a brother I thought he had spent the night over there but at no time did my son tell me he was going further or he was going to orange walk or something like that nothing all this while I thought he was with his cousin. But when my nephew picked me up at 7:30 for us to go and work at the cafe."
"We were coming down Santa Rita road heading to work at Yolis cafe when my nephew told me, Tia, we have to go to the hospital and I said why Ty? He answered it's with Jael. I said Ty don't tell me that he said yes tia it's something with Ja. So I started crying and I was with the hope that he is just hurt. I got there to the emergency and they told me I had to wait for the other doctor to enter his shift and the nurse in the emergency said yes he is here. And I asked her is he okay and she told me she can't tell me until the doctor of shift comes in and he will inform me about your son. That is all she told me I was expecting him to be hurt but not this. God know that my son was everything, he was my right hand I can't believe that he just passed away and he was so happy to start this next job."
The families are still in shock as to how their loved ones left home never to return safely. And now they must deal with the devastating reality that they will never know what their futures could have been like
Voice of: Emerita Bartley, Aunt of Deceased
"He said I am coming back for September celebrations, will you be here? And I said you know your aunty bones are old but we will go out. I told him, he said okay aunty ill be right here for the celebrations he will come in so I said yes we will go out, go to jouvert and we stayed on that, jouvert. My next sister came in and he was sitting with her, the one from San Pedro too. She came in and he spent time with them and he is just always up in everyones face, always smiling and running jokes. He is happy, happy my nephew. He is the 7th and I am the 10th we are 2 days apart, we will always remember him as a happy person very out going and out spoken, doesn't let anyone take advantage of him nobody nobody.That is how we will always remember him."
Voice of: Leidy Guzman, Mother of Deceased
"I always would check on him because I feared of the motorcycle but I know because I have been with him on that motorcycle and he was very responsible driving it. Nobody knew my son better than myself and he was very responsible when he drove his motorcycle and yes I know it's a dirt bike and every youth loves the adrenaline but I always spoke to him and I advised him son, "be responsible with that motorcycle" and he said yes mom I know."
"It is a shock still yet for us and I wish this was just a nightmare just a bad dream and like I told you my son was my right hand he was everything for me and now I have to learn to live without him."
