Giselle Dass kissed the man she had planned to marry for the last time yesterday. She placed a flower in his wooden casket and gently touched his face. Her tears were endless.
Police constable Renaul Dopson had promised to be at her side forever, she said.
The couple were to get engaged next month. And their fairy-tale wedding was planned for February next year.
Their dreams of a "perfect" life together however ended when a car, driven by a University of the West Indies student, slammed into him as he was directing traffic on Sunday afternoon. Dopson's colleague, Wendy Ann Timothy, was seriously injured in the crash.
"Giselle, there are no words I can say to ease your pain. Just before we got the news about his passing I asked his mother about the date for your wedding," Pastor Wilfred Samaroo said at his funeral.
Dopson, 26, was laid to rest, following a service at his Chaguanas home. He was attached to the municipal police at the Couva/Tabaquite/Talparo Regional Corporation. Chairman Dave Persad, chief executive officer Waldron Smart, and members of the corporation's municipal police department were part of the military send-off.
Acting Commissioner of Police Fitzroy Frederick and deputy commissioner of police, Maurice Piggott were also among the mourners. Commissioner of Police, Dwayne Gibbs, sent a letter to the family. He had visited Dopson's parents hours after he died.
No mention was made of the 27-year-old woman who was driving the car that killed Dopson along the Solomon Hochoy Highway, near the Ato Boldon Stadium. "I know people are waiting to hear me talk about the accident and the driver. But I am not going to get into that here," Samaroo said.
Instead he prayed for the recovery of Timothy, who remained in stable condition at the San Fernando General Hospital. And he said a prayer for the police officers "who endangered their lives to protect others daily".
Frederick said, "Policing is a very dangerous job at times and the way our colleague died tells us that when we leave home in the morning, we are not sure we will be home. He was a loyal officer and I hope his death does not go in vain."
Samaroo described Dopson, a police officer for four years, as a role model in the community. And he warned parents to take their responsibilities seriously. "A major problem we have is that parents are not disciplining their children. Renaul had a connection with his father and never disobeyed him," he said.
Dopson's parents Zorina and Michael and his sister, Victoria, sobbed quietly during the service. He was buried at the Chaguanas public cemetery.
Investigators said motor manslaughter charges were expected to be laid against the driver.
