One week after Siparia resident Sylvan Deokiesingh, 76, voiced his powerful story of how he was able to overcome the odds of being disabled, Deokiesingh suffered a massive heart attack and died at his Quarry Road home last Thursday. Deokiesingh was cremated on Tuesday, under Hindu rites, at the Shore of Peace, La Romaine.
His funeral service took place at his home and was officiated by pundit Kapil Maharaj of Mendez Village. Deokiesingh’s surviving siblings Jagdip, Selwyn, Molly and Sylvie, who all live in Canada, were at the funeral where they paid their respects and bid an emotional farewell to their brother.
Also paying respect was Deokiesingh’s medical practitioner, Dr Keith Imambaksh, who said, “I met him while at the Accident and Emergency in Siparia. While attending to him he gave me his life story about his struggles and challenges and his accomplishments. Treating him and listening to him telling his story was such an inspiration to me. His achievements in the face of seemingly impossible odds.”
On July 23, Deokiesingh shared his story with Guardian Media Ltd (GML). One of the questions asked was: “Mr Deokiesingh, what is your next step?” He replied: “To make peace with my Maker. That is all I can do because my life is almost gone.” One week later, he was dead.
Deokiesingh was born with no legs and one arm. He had a birth defect called amelia, a genetic disorder in some cases, but the most common cause of this birth defect which interrupts or prevents limb formation between the 24th and 36th day of pregnancy. He said going through his years of constant discrimination in one way or the other, he was determined to keep pressing on the doors of success.
He was intent on making it through this life to fight for the cause of people, who are disabled just like him. Deokiesingh described his childhood as challenging, “but it was something I coped with having been born this way. All my siblings were normal except for me. I remembered going to school with my friends. They would pick me up and put me on their backs on their way to school. Some of them made fun of me, some were scared of me but generally I had good friends while in school.”
After primary school, Deokiesingh was sent to a private secondary school where he earned his Cambridge certificate. He then attended several other educational institutions, including the School of Accounting and Management and the School of Business and Computer Science. He followed through with several studies including Accounts, Law, Business and was currently, up till his death, studying herbal medicine.
Deokiesingh also made the time for his passion—reading. “I read maybe hundreds of books and would keep on reading.” The highlight of his life was in the late 70s when he wrote a letter to the then late prime minister Dr Eric Williams, telling him of his physical condition and explaining how difficult it was for him to get a job because of his physical appearance. Deokiesingh requested Williams’ intervention and help.
“I was about 19 or 20 years when I was told by a Member of Parliament to write this letter, so I did. But, Mr Williams was on his way out of the country to London for a conference so he put me on to the acting prime minister George Chambers. I was called to meet with Mr Chambers and was told that he was instructed by Mr Williams to organise employment for me and so I started working a clerical job at the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC),” Deokiesingh said.
There at the EBC, he spent 29 years and was in charge of preparing the list of electors. “I enjoyed my job. I was placed at the EBC in Siparia so it was close to home. Sometimes I would start work at about 8 am and would not finish until midnight, especially like around this season (referring to the upcoming September 7 general election).”
When asked what motivated him, Deokiesingh replied: “I, in my condition, I wanted to show people that I can do better than they are. I dragged on my buttocks for years until someone made a pair of special boots for me so I can walk on my limbs. I worked hard and accomplished a lot and I am proud and happy of myself.”
Deokiesingh lobbied extensively for rights for the disabled and wanted to be a consultant in that field. “For me living this way for so long, I have experienced everything possible and back in the days were not easy for me, still today, the differently abled are faced with many challenges. I propose that all buildings be built with ramps for us. Proper roadways and sidewalks. Entrance and exit doors also special treatment and service when we go to places such as the bank. We ought to be treated special because that's who we are,” Deokiesingh said.
Deokiesingh planned on writing a book about his experience and how he was able to conquer this average and ordinary world. Through the book, Deokiesingh said that he wanted to bring that hope to the disabled.