Obituary of Karisha Natassia Gallimore

Karisha Natassia Gallimore

Karisha Natassia Gallimore, was born on June 7, 1989 in Rock Spring, Trelawny. She was given the nickname Quit by a member of her community, and is known by this name by most of her family and friends back home in Jamaica. A Quit is a tiny fragile bird found in Jamaica, and she was given this name because she was a tiny baby born prematurely. From the beginning, Karisha was a fighter, and was not one to bow to adversity.

She attended Spring Garden Primary and All Age for her primary school years, and then went to Albert Town High for High School. Upon graduation, she attended Ebony Park Agricultural College to follow her passion for farming and making things grow. It was from this College that she was recruited into the Farm Work Program in 2011, and had the chance to come to Canada to work on Balamore Farm.

Karisha worked in this community for 6 years, and formed many deep and lasting friendships. She knew hard work, and she took it in stride. She also showed great pride in her work, and was well loved by her colleagues and supervisors alike. However, when she considered her future, she decided that she needed to make a change to build a more secure and sustainable future for herself. She took the money she had been saving, and applied to study Criminal Justice at the Nova Scotia Community College in Truro.

NSCC was Karisha’s happy place. She loved being a student more than anything. And she excelled at it. In January 2018, she passed the gruelling physical exam that is required to become a police officer. Two months later, she was diagnosed with Gastric and Ovarian cancer, Stage 4.

Although the doctors gave her only weeks to live, Karisha turned those weeks into a year and a half of life lived fully. She showed an incredible level of perseverance and determination that at times seemed super-human. She was indeed the strongest person we will ever know. She completed the 2018/19 school year while doing chemo and working a part-time job, and still achieved 90s in most subjects. And she did this without complaining. She bore her illness with grace and dignity and faith, and is an example to all of us of how to walk through hard times.

Karisha passed away on July 16th, 2019 at 2:30 am. When the end came, it was swift and peaceful. Cancer may have ended Karisha’s life, but it did not defeat her. For she lived well and extracted every drop out of life, and lived it on her terms. She is survived by her Mother, Ms. Vinetta Facey of Rock Spring Trelawny, her Father, Mr Basil Gallimore of Jackson Town Trelawny, 17 siblings on both sides, numerous Aunts and Uncles, Cousins, Nieces and Nephews, and indeed, her friends. She will be greatly missed by all of us. We will never forget her. May we all try and demonstrate even a portion of her strength when faced with trials in our own lives. Rest in Peace dear sister.