Vicky Wireko : The brevity of life: A reminder by Samuel Nuamah’s death
Days after and while still in the joyous mood celebrating the works of those journalists who had acquitted themselves creditably as having produced some best pieces of work in the prior year, a shocking accident resulting in injuries and a loss of life broke our backs.
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Anticlimax
The accident, which involved 12 members of the Press Corps attached to the Presidency at the Flagstaff House, presented an anticlimax to a week of celebrations in some media houses and recollections of the event by some members of the Ghana Journalists Association.
Samuel Nuamah, a journalist with the Ghanaian Times, unfortunately lost his life. He was a member of the group of 12 who were in a Ford bus bringing them back from Ho to Accra after covering an assignment.
Regrettable death
Samuel was with us one minute but in a split of a second, he was gone. And so his death has saddened almost everyone I have come across since the unfortunate accident hit the news last Thursday afternoon.
The Ghana International Press Centre virtually stood still. Confusion, shock, regret and sadness was the mood expressed by all who were around and those who came in to verify the “breaking news” of that afternoon.
Death came too early and too sudden to snatch away a young man who had the whole world ahead of him career-wise.
The saddest part is that in fulfilling a duty call assigned to him that day, he lost his life. He is said to have been a family man with a wife currently outside the country and a two-year-old son.
He is also said to have been the breadwinner of his extended family, responsible for the upkeep of the home and the payment of school fees for his siblings.
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Life is short
Samuel’s passing is not only a tragedy. It is a clear example of the saying that “life is very short”. And in cases like this, it is even shorter than the word short itself.
The young man may have said his usual goodbye that morning to his parents and siblings as he probably rushed out of the house to go to work. Perhaps he did not even have the time to hug anyone of them, believing for sure that he would be back in the evening as usual. It was not to be. The family rather will soon bid him farewell, never to be seen again.
Unfortunately, instances like Samuel’s death remind us momentarily of the brevity of life. Momentary because in the midst of shock and grief, we tend to ponder about life and advise ourselves to slow down in everything we do.
However, as usual, once the shock wanes and the grief get subdued, we return to our old ways, living as if tomorrow would always be there for us.
Samuel may have had breakfast and lunch that day with us in body and spirit cracking the jokes that he probably was used to when colleagues met on assignment. However, by supper time, he was gone forever.
That is the brevity of life. Such is how short our lives are. The young are leaving us so soon these days as the old ones are going beyond 80 years. The message is that no matter the age these days, we should always be prepared because this life is not our home. We may leave at any time, any day.
The world as a stage
The family members of Samuel are the foremost losers as they mourn a breadwinner, someone who was supporting them in so many ways. The Ghanaian Times also has lost a young professional team member.
Friends of his have lost a true mate. Life has robbed them of a precious gem.
May the unfortunate demise of Samuel Nuamah be a reminder that life is only a passing phase. It is very brief and as Shakespeare reminded us in “As You Like It,” Act II Scene VII, “All the world’s a stage and all the men and women merely players: they have their exits and their entrances.”
Samuel’s exit has come too early and under very painful circumstances.
He will always be remembered when the history of the Ghana Journalists Association comes to be written as one of the young men whose career in journalism was prematurely truncated while in the line of duty.
As the family observes the one week of his passing tomorrow, may Samuel’s soul rest in perfect peace.
vickywirekoandoh@yahoo.com
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