‘When I looked at my baby, I knew I had to keep holding on’ – MV Barima survivor recalls fight to stay alive

There were few dry eyes on Thursday evening as Government Member of Parliament Hon. Alister S. Charlie attended a wake at Kairuni along the Soesdyke–Linden Highway, where he met one of the survivors of the devastating MV Barima tragedy.

Among those gathered was Alicia Atkinson, a young single mother whose extraordinary fight to save her children has moved Guyanese across the country. Holding her 10-month-old son, Triston Atkinson, close to her chest, she recounted the unimaginable ordeal that forever changed her life and claimed the life of her three-year-old daughter, Alicia.

Speaking with MP Charlie, Ms. Atkinson struggled to hold back tears as painful memories of the night the MV Barima sank in the Atlantic Ocean came flooding back.

“It is something I will never forget,” she said softly.

She recalled that at approximately 11:00 p.m. on Saturday, July 18, 2026, both of her children were asleep when panic erupted aboard the vessel. Within moments, the situation turned into a desperate fight for survival.

Acting on instinct, she grabbed both children and plunged into the dark, unforgiving waters.

“I had both of them,” she said, her voice trembling. “But the sea took my little girl away from my hand.”

Those words echoed the unbearable pain of a mother who watched helplessly as the powerful Atlantic swept away her child.

In the midst of the chaos, an unknown man handed Ms. Atkinson a floating roll of vinyl before disappearing beneath the waves. She believes the man later drowned while trying to save others.

Using the makeshift float as her only lifeline, she placed baby Triston on top while she remained submerged in the water, holding him tightly through one of the longest nights of her life.

For nearly eight hours, she battled rough seas, crashing waves, exhaustion and despair.

“The water was rough. The waves kept coming. My feet were getting weak because they were under the water for so long,” she recalled. “There were moments when I felt like giving up… but every time I looked at my baby, I knew I had to keep holding on.”

As daylight broke over the Atlantic, hope finally arrived. Rescuers found the exhausted mother and her infant son still clinging to life.

Originally from Sebai Village in Region One, Ms. Atkinson now resides in Kairuni. She explained that she had been travelling home with her two children to spend the holidays with relatives when tragedy struck.

Instead of arriving home with laughter and excitement, she is now preparing to lay her little girl to rest.

With tears rolling down her cheeks, she described her daughter simply as “a bundle of joy”—a child whose smile brightened every room and whose absence has left an emptiness that words cannot describe.

Following the tragedy, the child’s body was recovered from the Atlantic Ocean, identified by relatives and taken to a funeral home in Linden, where funeral arrangements are now being made.

During the visit, MP Charlie listened quietly as Ms. Atkinson shared her heartbreaking story. Visibly moved, he offered words of comfort and extended his deepest condolences to the grieving mother and her family.

As Guyana continues to mourn the lives lost in one of the nation’s worst maritime disasters, Alicia Atkinson’s story has become a poignant reminder of a mother’s unconditional love, the courage to fight for a child’s life against impossible odds, and the unimaginable grief carried by those who survived.

For Ms. Atkinson, the Atlantic did not only test her strength—it changed her life forever. While it spared her and her infant son, it also claimed the little girl who had filled her world with love, leaving behind memories that no tide can ever wash away.