LITTLE LONDON, Westmoreland — Among those grieving the death of Little London Primary School Principal Shirlet Craig-Davis is a student who is inexplicably worried that she somehow caused the educator to die. Craig Davis died on Saturday, two weeks after she was involved in a traffic mishap.

“One student is now blaming herself that she contributed to the death of Mrs Davis because she was not behaving herself. So now, that student, I will have to pull her [aside] and assure her that things do happen, and she doesn’t have to blame herself. I’ll have to walk her through the whole grieving process, and all of that,” said the school’s senior guidance counsellor Nadine Williams.

Williams was speaking with the media on the sidelines of an all-day grief counselling session held on Monday for teachers, some of whom wept openly as they tried to come to grips with their colleague’s death.

Students were expected to receive counselling on Tuesday.

“For the children, it will be a general devotion. We’ll be having persons here talking and walking them through the grieving process. They will be assisted on a grade basis,” said Williams.

“Parents also have been reaching out to me asking what is it that we want to be done for them. So, right now, I am thinking of putting a Zoom platform in place to accommodate the parents, the wider community, the international body, and her college mates,” she added.

Craig-Davis reportedly had a headache following the crash and sought medical attention at hospital. She was prescribed medication and sent home. However, she later suffered two strokes and was rushed to the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) where she died.

Vice-principal of the institution Nerissa Stephens said the school community is deeply saddened by her passing.

“The atmosphere at this time is very sad. It’s very mournful. However, as I said before, we are here for you,” she assured educators during Monday’s session.

“We are here for each other and we have the support of other stakeholders, the Ministry of Education, JTA [Jamaica Teachers’ Association]; we have the support staff from the Guidance Counselling Department who are offering grief counselling even at this time; and we have parents, students. The community at large is here to support us today and we are forever grateful to them for this level of support that they are lending to us,” said Stephens.

The Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) also came out in their numbers on Monday to offer support.

Craig-Davis was a classroom teacher and guidance counsellor before taking up the post of principal, a decade ago. Over the years she also served as tuck shop manager, canteen manager, and leader of the school’s Red House.

“She was a vibrant sportsperson. When it comes to sports, you can’t take that from Craigie. She loved sports. She loved her Lord. She was not afraid to worship God,” stated Williams.

Among those grieving was Education Officer Warren Brown, who said he had a fairly good working relationship with Craig-Davis.

“I knew her before I even started supervising the school. I am not saying that we were best friends because we did lock horns sometimes, even as her officer. [However], we never left with any grudges. We always ended up clearing the air and sorting things out,” stated Brown.

He used the opportunity to urge those present at the grief counselling session on Monday to view the unfortunate incident as a lesson to be there for each other.

“Let us always support each other because we don’t know when that day will come,” Brown appealed.

Former president of the Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA), Norman Allen, who represented the 60-year-old union, said the JTA is grieving along with the school community. He noted that while Craig-Davis was not an active member of the JTA, she was a supporter of the work it did.

Allen called on the school community to hold onto the memories they had of her.

“This is your home away from home. You look around and you recognise that you spend more time with these persons [teachers] here, interacting, than you spend with your spouse and, sometimes, even your children. This place that you are at is more than a home away from home. This is going to hurt but while you are hurting hold on to the good memories that you would have shared with your principal. Every time you look on the outside and you miss her, remember her contribution to this institution,” he said.

Member of Parliament for Westmoreland Western Morland Wilson noted that Craig-Davis was compassionate, caring and an outstanding community member who contributed to the growth of the school that is known nationally for its outstanding performance in various areas.

Wilson said when Craig-Davis became ill, the hope was that she would have recovered.

“We did not expect that she would have moved on because we were doing everything in our power, humanly. But God had different plans and we don’t have answers as to why what happened, happened,” stated Wilson, who conveyed sympathy to her family.

Craig-Davis’ only daughter and husband, Peter Davis, were not present on Monday. When contacted, Davis told the Observer that the family was having a hard time coping with the death of his beloved wife of 26 years.

“We are trying to hang in there even though it hit us hard,” he said.

Davis visited his wife daily in hospital and left last Friday with the hope of returning the next day. However, as he prepared for yet another trip to the hospital last Saturday, he received a call from a doctor who gave him the devastating news.

“Boy, I broke down. It is rough and it is still rough. It is not an easy road,” he said.

Davis said he is receiving counselling from the family pastor.

Bishop Howard Palmer, pastor of Glad Tidings Assembly of God where Craig-Davis was a member, said the church was taking her death hard.