By , Gleaner Writer
Denise Murray (right) receives the badge of gallantry from Governor-General Sir Howard Cooke (left) in honour of her son Jorghinio Johnson, who drowned along with his brother while rescuing fellow scouts from danger at a beach in Yallahs, St. Thomas, last year February. - NORMAN GRINDLEY/Staff Photographer
ON THE morning of October 18, Errol Cousley and Denise Murray made the journey from their homes in Bull Bay, St. Andrew, and Yallahs, St. Thomas, to King's House for the National Honours and Awards ceremony.
They went to receive the badge of gallantry for their sons, 17-year-old Heron Cousley and 12-year-old Jorghinio Johnson, who drowned at the Green Bay beach in Yallahs in February 2003. The youngsters, members of the Yallahs Baptist Church scout group, lost their lives after rescuing two of their colleagues who were having difficulty negotiating turbulent waters.
For their parents, the annual awards ceremony was a bittersweet occasion. "Last week it just played back in my mind. I cry sometimes when I think about it but you know the Lord giveth and he taketh away," said the soft-spoken Ms. Murray.
Jorghinio was the youngest of her three children. She says the Wolmer's first-former had been a scout since age five and at the time of his death was part of the Harbour View Football Club's youth programme. "He was so active," she told The Gleaner, "they all looked up to him."
Heron was a fifth form student at the Yallahs Comprehensive High School. Garth Russell, the Scout Association of Jamaica's acting district commissioner for St. Thomas and the boys' group leader, described him as a "very helpful young man". Mr. Russell was at the beach when tragedy struck. He says there was a sudden surge of the tide and several of the scouts got into trouble at which time Heron and Jorghinio went to their assistance; they managed to save two of the boys but their rescue act cost them their lives.
BODY FOUND TWO DAYS LATER
Jorghinio, Mr. Russell recalled, was the first to drown. Heron's body was found two days later. At home, Ms. Murray, a cosmetologist, says she was in the hospital when she last heard from the child known to family and friends as 'Richie' and who she still refers to as 'my baby'. "He spoke to me in the morning, and it's like I knew something happened because I didn't hear from him later. Him always have him phone and tell mi where he was," she said.
Ms. Murray says she got the bad news from family friends at 4:00 p.m. Eighteen months after losing her son, she told The Gleaner that there are still unanswered questions surrounding the tragic incident but says she has no animosity toward the scouts organisation.
"I can't be angry about it. It's the Lord's way, is just destiny," she remarks.
