Overcome with grief, 25-year-old Dellissa Mangar broke down as she tried to come to terms with the unimaginable reality that the two people she loved most—her husband and her four-year-old son—are both gone.
On Thursday afternoon, Dellissa’s life changed forever after 32-year-old Joseph Mangar and their young son, Johnathan Mangar, died after the car Joseph was driving plunged into a canal along the Lesbeholden Public Road, Black Bush Polder.
Now, the grieving mother is left not only mourning the loss of her husband and child but also facing a future where she must raise their six-year-old daughter alone.
Speaking with Ignite News, Dellissa recalled how normal the day had started, with Joseph dropping the children off at school as he routinely did. He was later expected to pick up their daughter that afternoon, but he never arrived. Growing worried, Dellissa said she later received a heartbreaking call from her mother-in-law informing her that Joseph and little Johnathan had been involved in an accident. She admitted that coping with the loss of both her husband and young son at the same time has been overwhelming.
“Losing my son and my husband is hard… no matter what, I love them so much. I miss my son and I miss my husband. Both of them I miss,” she cried.
Her voice breaking repeatedly, Dellissa described her husband and children as the centre of her life and happiness.
“They were my joy, my happiness, my peace, the same as my daughter,” she said softly.
She is now left to carry on alone with her daughter, without the man who once helped raise their children and shared the responsibilities of family life.
“Now I live for my child only,” she said emotionally.
As relatives and friends continue to mourn alongside the family, Dellissa said she still cannot fully understand how tragedy struck so suddenly.
“I can’t really say because I was not in the car and I do not know. Only God knows what happened. He was going in Black Bush Polder, because my uncle said when he checked the car, it was in D-S and the right side indicator was on,” she said quietly.
Autopsies later confirmed that both Joseph and little Johnathan died by drowning.
