On the 23rd of February the Jeal family of the Cayo District will be going to court, hoping to get justice for the September 2024 accident that claimed the life of their 19 Year old daughter Tamesha Jeal and injured their son Keenan Wragg. The driver that allegedly caused the accident, Simeon Herrera will be on trial for Manslaughter by Negligence and a slew of traffic related charges.
But, beyond the headlines, tonight we take a look at the interior life of a family after an accident takes a loved one. Jaleeza Roberts had a rare sit down with the victim's brother - who survived the accident - to discuss grief, life after loss, and the reality that while love in life may be short, forgetting is the real long journey
At one of the busiest intersections in Santa Elena, a split second changed everything for one family. Tamisha Jeal died after she and her brother were knocked down off a motorcycle. The rider, Keenan Wragg, survived after multiple surgeries, weeks of recovery, and an emotional battle that continues today. He still relives that morning in flashes, waking up to reminders that his sister is gone.
Keenan Wragg, RTA Survivor
"I have daily flashbacks of the accident. Actually, yesterday, I just had one where I wasn't home then, basically in Belize. And I had a flashback of it and it kind of ruined my day in a sense. And so, to start like that, it's a struggle every day. I mean, I get up and the first thing I see is her pictures. And it's kind of hard to deal with it because it's something that I've never dealt with, you know. I never really dealt with the loss of someone. And especially in that way, it was kind of hard. It is still hard to deal with it, just waking up every day and just knowing that she's not here, you know."
"Knowing that she'll never walk back in that door, never make us another breakfast or something, you know. It's just something that I'm still learning how to deal with each day."
The day before the accident was Tamesha's birthday and Keenan says there were small events in the 24 hours before the accident. He now wonders if they were signs:
Keenan Wragg, RTA Survivor
"And me and my sister, we stayed out with some friends. And somehow, the vehicle tire, it burst when we were coming back. And we ended up loaning or borrowing a bike from a friend to come home. So, the morning, when I was getting ready to leave, the bike didn't want to start."
"Which was something that kind of, you know, already ticked off something that was going to go wrong, in a sense. And I spent at least two hours trying to get the bike to start. It finally started. And, yeah, my mom was like, are you going to carry your sister? I'm like, I don't want to take her. I can remember distinctly telling her, I don't want to take her. And she was like, she'll enjoy it."
"She always has fun when she goes with you."
And little did he know that would be his last ride with his only sibling. When they got knocked down, he lost mobility as his body and head suffered major impact. He was not notified of his sisters death until some 11 hours after. Keenan recounts the moment he knew his life would change:
Keenan Wragg, RTA Survivor
"And, yeah, I remember they took her, then they took me. And after that, basically, I can't remember much because in the hospital, they told me I blacked out accordingly almost seven times."
"And apparently I was almost close to losing my life, too, because of the, well, not the injury, the impact of, I don't know if it was when I hit my head or something."
"I didn't know that she passed away. (9:07) And they did it in a sense to protect my feelings because, I mean, I was already going through so much."
"I was blacking out everything. So I ended up fighting up until almost 11 in the night. They told me that she passed away and I just broke down. I couldn't even, I don't even know. I couldn't do anything for myself in a sense. There was so much going through my mind. It was, I don't even know how to say it, how to even explain it. That night just completely broke me in a sense. I felt like everything that I had in a sense of importance was gone because she was the most important person to me at that time."
Keenan is now left to deal with his hardest battle. To grieve and to heal not only mentally but physically. To date, he has undergone 3 surgeries and still, he is not at 100% mobility. Physically, recovery meant surgeries at KHMH and months of therapy. Emotionally, it meant confronting grief, guilt, and unanswered questions.
Keenan Wragg, RTA Survivor
"I have a, I think it's a stainless steel rod in here right now. So it was shattered from here up and that's the humerus, I believe. And then on the right arm, my elbow was fractured and they had to take out the radial head. So I don't have movement, full movement in this arm. I have about around 80% of the normal movement you'd have, you know, full extension and everything. I cannot, I would just reach to there. And I have full extension in this arm, but I catch spasms sometimes that really pain me. It's like electric shocks that pass through my arms and everything."
Jaleeza Roberts -
"Are you pending any more surgeries? At this time, no. But I was supposed to go and do another surgery, but I chose not to because I don't know the outcome of the surgery. I mean, I know how I am now and I'm stable enough to do certain things. But if I went to do that surgery, I don't know what would have happened."
Keenan Wragg, RTA Survivor
"I could have ended up being worse than how I am now. And it would have been all for nothing in a sense because I kind of worked so hard to get here at this point. And it's just to go take another surgery, just to end up worse. I didn't want that. I mean, there's a lot of emotional strain and everything on me like that. So I talked to my parents and they were like, if you don't want to do it, it's best not to do it."
Yet in that pain, he has found purpose. Determined to keep a promise he made to his sister, he returned to complete his degree and eventually resumed conservation work with Toledo Institute for Development and Environment.
Keenan Wragg, RTA Survivor
"So school was put on the side and I didn't even try to put in effort. I didn't have any motivation to do school. And I was like, I'm on my last year. I'm literally on my last subject to finish and get my bachelor's. And I was like, I didn't have any motivation. I didn't want to do anything. I got up in the morning. I'd walk around, just walk around basically and just do nothing. And I just think about my sister and all that. And one day I was just sitting there and something caught, you know, just came up in my head. I remember telling her before she even passed that, you know, I'd finish school and get a good job and someday be able to, you know, do more things with her. And I remember making a promise as well. I was like, I will finish school no matter what happens. And that popped up in my head. And I was just, you know, there talking to her in a sense and said, you know what? I got to finish because I promised you this."
He completed his final class with a B+and dedicated his diplomat to his sister who never got a chance to pursue her dream of becoming a vet:
Keenan Wragg, RTA Survivor
"I remember walking across the stage and the first thing I said, this one is for you, Tom. And that's why I wanted to cry. I wanted to smile. I was all over the place because I said, you know, I did this one for her. Not only for myself, but for her, too. It was, you know, somehow I felt like I made her proud in that moment. And it felt good. It felt really good."
Grief, he says, doesn't disappear. It changes shape. Some days are heavy, some lighter. Talking, leaning on family, and honoring her memory through road-safety advocacy have helped. At home, the silence remains, a reminder of loss, but also of love. But Keenan says that many days it feels as if nobody understands him:
Keenan Wragg, RTA Survivor
"Honestly, I keep to myself a lot. And I feel like that's the best way I deal with stuff. Because I don't try to tell people in a bad way that they don't understand, but a lot of people don't understand. They don't understand what all I've been through in that sense. And what all I'm still going through. And it's very, it messes with my head. It messes with not only my head, my body itself, too. Like when I feel stressed, my body just shuts down sometimes. It feels like I get weak and stuff. So I try to keep to myself when I feel like, you know, I'm very emotional. Because I don't, like I said, it's kind of hard in this time and generation. People tend to see emotions as something else. Like it's you're attacking something or your feelings are not really that relevant or valid in a sense."
As a young man, there are growing stigmas around mental health but a major battle for Keenan is bringing himself to find forgiveness for the man who killed his sister and changed the trajectory of his life:
Keenan Wragg, RTA Survivor
"It's so hard to find that peace and forgiveness. I guess because of me being in the accident and seeing how it unfolded, it's hard to really let go and forgive. Because like I said, if he was more, I don't even know, if he was just more attentive to at least just check on us, to make sure that we were okay, it would have been so much easier for me to at least find a sense of forgiveness. But he didn't even care. It was like he took away one life and one was already probably on the way to go. I didn't even know if I was going to be there or be alive or not. And he didn't even care. And I think that's why I find it so hard to forgive in that sense. Because we're all humans, you know. At least show a bit of empathy. I mean, you hit, you basically hit us. It wasn't our fault. The least you could have done is come and check on us, check, see what's happening. Even if you're intoxicated, you still have such a sense. You're driving, you're driving to that point. I don't know how far he came from. And he was driving. So you have at least that sense that you know what's happening. So forgiveness-wise, honestly, it's hard."
"It's very hard. I don't know if I'd ever be able to forgive him or when I'll be able to forgive him.But it's something that I don't think will happen right now."
Out of the despair the family has found ways to memorialize their loved one. The Tamisha Z Jeal Awareness Foundation was birthed to promote safe driving. But in their home, you can see pictures and memorandums of a life fully lived and a room untouched. Every season, the family still decorates her room for her and for Christmas and her birthday, a gift is still bought. Keenan explained that no matter the time, she will always have a seat at their table:
Keenan Wragg, RTA Survivor
"We try to do family stuff, like family game nights. Try to watch movies. But it's just, it's very hard. It's like a void is there, you know. And it's nothing that can fill that void in a sense. We try as much to talk to each other, you know. We get along very well. Me and my family, we get along very well. But you could feel that absence there, you know. Each day you wake up, you know that she's missing. And it'll never be the same. Even if it's two years, four years, ten years, it doesn't even matter. I feel like you'll still feel the same."
"We're still coping and learning how to deal with it because it's hard. Everything in her room stayed the same, we try not to change around stuff too much. Everything, her pictures her gifts that she got, everything that we do like this past Christmas you know it's something that we do like that we just buy a gift for her and just set it there you know in a sense that she's still remembered and at the table, a seat is left for her."
And in light of all this, the What if's have resonated but he has made peace with God.
Keenan Wragg, RTA Survivor
"I used to always question God. What if, you know, what if I didn't take her that day. What if you know he wasn't drinking. You know what if I went down a different road. I always used to question God but I found a sense of peace, knowing that she's in a better place. Although the situation isn't the way I wanted it, to be as it should be but she's in a better place now and somehow I've found peace with God so I've learned how to cope with it, how to deal with it. Don't get me wrong, day to day basis it's very hard but I learned how to deal with it."
For now, this family is a reflection of the hundreds of Belizean families who have lost a loved one and learned to adapt. Grief, universal, but very real. Jaleeza Roberts, 7 News.
We'll be following the case when it goes to court in 10 days.
Anyone interested in being a part of the "Tanisha Z Jeal Awareness Foundation" and donating toward road safety can contact them via Facebook.
