Today marks 15 years since I lost my friend Patrick in a fiery car crash.
We met working together where I was the technical lead on a large project, and he was the systems engineer assigned to my team. He came from the UK to join us.
We had only known each other for a few months, a time that was both very short and very long at the same time. He was excited to work with me and explore our country while he was here. He bought a van and would visit a different part of Trinidad every weekend.
It was in that same van that he would lose his life that morning of 7th July 2007 – 07-07-07. In a single moment this vibrant young man was taken away.
At work on Monday, there were discussions on how to keep the project on track. Another engineer was assigned two weeks later, and the project delay amounted to no longer than that – two weeks.
Before then, I never had a co-worker and a friend die. This taught me an important lesson – no matter how important you may feel you are to a company, you will be replaced easily. It is never worth it to give your life to your organisation.
During the weeks that followed, I met his parents, and while they were sad, they were happy that Patrick was happy here and was enjoying himself. As his dad said: “In T&T we have the cold beer and warm atmosphere, while in the UK you have the warm beer and cold atmosphere.”
Patrick, buddy. I still remember you.
