AS TOLD TO BC PIRES

My name is Darren Sandy and I believe life is a lesson – so pay attention!

I’m from Plymouth, Tobago, but I was actually born in Trinidad. My mum is from Trinidad. And when her pregnancy was going along apparently kinda rough, she went down by her family, had me and came back.

I’ve never spent a day in Trinidad as a boy. I was literally born there and then spent my entire life in Tobago.

I’m the real definition of Trinbagonian.

I have three sisters. I’m the only boy, but not the baby boy. I have one sister after me.

I would catch car, at a young age, eight or nine. And I would go in town. Play tennis with the boys in town, play basketball. From a young age I was independent.

Is only as I got older that I realised what a sacrifice my parents Denzil and Ellen Parris-Sandy made to grow us up.

I’m not married, but I have two boys. My first son is 18, my second son is one year. I’m still with the second son’s mum but we not saying we getting married.

I went to Scarborough RC. But I’m not Catholic. I’m Anglican, but not a big practising one. I’m a believer, but I don’t go to church as I should. Sometimes I wake up late and our church is very early. It starts at eight o'clock on a Sunday and finish by 10 am. So if you wake up nine o’clock you miss half of church already.

The only thing I can say (to reconcile) the suffering in the world and a caring God is, it is just like with your children. You can teach them, but at some time, you need to leave them to be themselves. Sometimes they stray; sometimes they stay on the path.

I observe it with my first son: at times, you could tell him but (most times) he had to experience it himself.

So that’s why I say life is a lesson. Sometimes you need to experience things to understand.

I went to Bishop’s High School in Tobago. Out of the 80 students that came in that year, 20 came from Scarborough RC alone. The people I was in class with from first year primary school, I was with them right up to fifth form.

We stay in contact. Sometimes we might have a games night over the internet.

I went to John D to do a two-year course in triple ET, electronic engineering technician. Port of Spain was a change, but it wasn’t a shock to me, being that my mum is from Trinidad. We used to come to Trinidad every holiday. It was just the first time I was there without my parents.

I still work in triple ET.

I was at Powergen before. And then I came back to Tobago and I got into T&TEC.

[caption id="attachment_1037994" align="alignnone" width="848"] Darren Sandy is a hot-line linesman. It's extremely dangerous," he said. - Mark Lyndersay[/caption]

When I came back to Tobago, initially I was working with the cable company and then, funny story, they joined the union. And they retrenched everybody who joined the union.

They always say there’s a silver lining behind every cloud and I believe that.

Because of that, I drove for two or three weeks for a friend and I met a T&TEC crew. And I was watching them and I say, “Like they in my