Former St Augustine midfielder Randy Ramcharan played the final minutes of the sport he loved dearly before tragically passing away in the presence of his teammates on May 9.
Considered one of the finest midfielders to ever grace the football field for "The Green Machine" as St Augustine Secondary was famously known, Ramcharan was representing the St Augustine Old Boys in an Over-40 final against the Defence Force Masters in the Edinburgh 500 Masters Football Tournament.
According to witnesses, Ramcharan had played roughly 15 minutes of the match when he requested a substitution. While he was on the bench, his close friend and former schoolmate Brian Bain noticed Ramcharan slump over.
"The game stopped as the referee and other players saw the commotion," Bain recalled. "People came in from all over, trying to resuscitate him. He was pronounced dead at the Chaguanas Health Centre, where he was rushed. He was 45 years old and would have been 46 next month."
His passing marks a double tragedy for the St Augustine organisation, as one of their supporters, Sindy Dhanraj, died earlier Saturday after a long battle with cancer. Like Ramcharan, Dhanraj showed up religiously for matches for their alma mater.
On May 10, Ramcharan’s sister, Nickella, stated that the unofficial cause of death was a heart attack. She noted that the time elapsed before reaching the health centre was a factor in his passing. Funeral arrangements will be finalised once his mother, sister, and nephew arrive in T&T from abroad.
Bain, who attended El Dorado Junior Secondary with Ramcharan in the early 1990s before his move to St Augustine, described him as a "spirited human being" and a naturally gifted athlete. "He would always be the heartbeat of the establishment of the club or wherever his presence was. He was a good individual, always willing to help. He was always a motivator to get people to help another brother. And in terms of the human aspect of him, he was a loving father, you know, he did what he had to do as a father.”
According to Bain, “The player aspect of him, he was a really good player, technically gifted, skilful, you know, the old school footballer that we chit-chatted about. You know, he had good technical ability and high football IQ; that was Randy. Though he carried expectations of reaching really far in the game, Randy eventually took his foot off the pedal, so to speak, and you know, just decided to go along with life.”
Apart from St Augustine Secondary, Ramcharan also played for Caledonia AIA, Doc’s Khelwalas in the top-flight T&T Professional League.
