For Diane Cort, the reality that her husband, Neil, may never come home is difficult to comprehend.
More than three weeks after the MV Barima sank, Neil remains among those unaccounted for, and Diane says she still finds herself reaching for her phone and calling his number, holding on to the feeling that he could somehow answer.
“Every day I still ring his phone, see if he would answer. It’s very hard. It’s very hard because my husband was my breadwinner,” Diane said.
Neil’s family joined together outside the Office of the President, calling for the sunken vessel to be raised so that the remains of those still inside can be recovered.
For Diane, the loss is made even harder by the uncertainty.
She remembers the final moments she shared with her husband before he left on the vessel.
The Friday before the tragedy, the couple went together to the boat’s canteen to prepare food for passengers ahead of its Saturday departure.
The following morning, they returned to the vessel at around 6am. Diane prepared the food while Neil remained on board.
When it was time for her to leave, she said Neil told her she could go home.
“I come out. I don’t even know that was the last time I would see him on Monday,” she recalled.
On Monday, after her daughter picked her up, Diane called Neil to check on him.
He answered and reassured her that everything was okay.
“He said, yes, everything is okay. I’m watching all this stuff from the back with some clean water,” she recalled.
That was the last conversation Diane had with her husband.
Now, she says she continues to feel as though he is still somewhere out there.
“It’s hard, it’s hard. I still feel like by the boat is down there. Still feeling like my husband is somewhere out there.”
The MV Barima sank on July 18 while travelling from Georgetown to Port Kaituma, leaving dozens dead and families across Guyana grieving.
Authorities have accounted for 179 people believed to have been aboard the vessel. Seventy-six people were rescued and 73 bodies recovered, while 30 people remain unaccounted for.
Neil and his brother Kenrick are among those who have not been recovered.
For Neil’s family, the brothers’ absence is being felt not only by their immediate relatives but also by people who knew and depended on them.
Diane described her husband as a hardworking man who provided for his family while also helping others.
“My husband was my breadwinner, you know, not me alone. But he looked for everybody. Even gave it to people. That’s the kind of person he is.”
She said Neil never expected anything from anyone and worked hard for what he had.
“He never robbed nobody. He never meant anything he wants. He worked for it.”
Diane also believes Neil’s nature as a people person is part of why he remained aboard the vessel.
She recalled that if she had asked him to leave the boat that day, he would have been reluctant to do so because of the passengers depending on him.
“What happened to the people? All the people going to eat? I have to go. I have to go. There is no way I want to stop my husband out there. There is no way.”
For Neil’s sister, Marilyn Cort, the family’s immediate wish is to recover their loved ones—even if all that remains are their bones.
“We don’t care if we find the bones. We will never get closure until we find the body, whether it’s bones. And we can give them a proper funeral or a proper burial,” Marilyn said.
She described Kenrick as a hardworking man who spent about 34 years working aboard the MV Barima and was known for helping others.
“He worked really hard. He worked on that boat for about 34 years. That’s his job, his daily living. Works very hard, very kind. He helped a lot of people and a lot of lives are touched by him.”
Marilyn said Kenrick was also a father figure to many children in the community.
She remembered Neil as equally caring.
“Neil is like a gem, a gem. Very hardworking, takes care of everybody, even the kids. Everybody in the neighbourhood. Everybody knows Neil. Everybody knows Brother Neil.”
Another of the brothers’ sisters, Bridget Cort, said the family was made to understand that Neil and Kenrick may still be inside the vessel.
She said that knowledge has made the wait particularly difficult.
“We don’t care if the body deteriorate. Even if we get the bones, we can take it because we will get a closure,” Bridget said.
The family’s appeal comes as the circumstances surrounding the tragedy continue to be examined, including through a Commission of Inquiry.
But for Diane, the investigation cannot change the simple reality of what she has lost.
She is living with the absence of a husband she spoke to for the final time after the vessel sank.
And each day, she still calls his phone.
“It’s very hard,” she said.
For Diane, Marilyn, Bridget and the rest of the Cort family, finding Neil and Kenrick would not undo the tragedy.
But it would give them something they have been denied since the sinking—the opportunity to bring their loved ones home, lay them to rest and finally say goodbye.
