Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar says her husband Gregory Bissessar continues to experience difficulty walking because of injuries sustained in a car accident during last year’s election campaign, explaining his absence from public functions. She discussed his recovery while addressing the 29th annual Divali celebrations at her constituency office in Penal on Saturday night, the Trinidad Express reported. Her remarks combined an explanation for supporters who had asked about him with a tribute to his continuing support throughout her political career. According to Persad-Bissessar, another car struck the side of their vehicle while they were travelling to a campaign meeting in Sangre Grande. She said the injuries her husband suffered in that collision continued to affect his mobility. The prime minister said people had been asking why he was no longer appearing alongside her at functions he would ordinarily attend. She explained that he was reluctant to go because he did not want others to see him struggling to walk. Her account focused on those continuing physical limitations. She also told the gathering that his spirit and intellectual strength remained strong, and conveyed his affection to supporters who had expressed concern about him. Persad-Bissessar thanked her husband for his courage, patience and enduring love. Describing the personal support he had provided through the demands of public life, she said she could not have made her political journey without him. The address also connected her family’s experience with the responsibilities carried by people caring for relatives. She told constituents and supporters that she regarded them as part of her family and acknowledged that many were supporting loved ones through difficulties of their own. Drawing on the Ramayan, Persad-Bissessar recalled Sita and Lakshman accompanying Lord Rama into exile while Bharat held the kingdom in trust for his return. She used those relationships to illustrate how family ties find expression in the responsibilities people undertake for one another. She closed that part of her message by urging those gathered to cherish the relatives and friends who sustain them during difficult periods. Her account offered supporters an explanation for her husband’s absence while placing his ongoing recovery within a wider reflection on care, family and community.
