NEVAL Seunarine, father of Dr Shival Seunarine, who died on May 8, said his son was a 'gentle giant' who was everybody's best friend.

The 33-year-old doctor died at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex shortly after being admitted with acute respiratory distress syndrome.

His funeral was held on Thursday afternoon, with nearly 400 people tuning in via Zoom.

Many fellow doctors, pharmacists, secondary school and university classmates, among others, shared their condolences in the live chat.

There were even attendees from the US and Botswana, who all described him as a kind, loving person.

Michelle Ash said, 'Shival was a person who, when you meet, touches your spirit in the kindest and gentlest way. He has blessed many people. May his life inspire others to live a life of humility and grace. Shival will always be remembered. Rest easy and fly high.'

Another person said, 'Shival was always a loving and respectful guy.'

Rachael Wyse said, 'Shival was a remarkable person. Kind considerate, warm, more concerned about others than himself, generous and so much more. The world has surely lost a gem. We feel privileged to have known him.'

The ceremony was done under Hindu rites by Pundit Ji and the eulogy was given by Seunarine's father.

He described his son as humble and inspiring.

'With reference to Shival's chosen professional path of medicine, life is considered, medically, by the breaths we take. However, life may also be considered by the moments that take our breaths away.

'I can stand here with tremendous solace in the life that he lived and shared with all of us. He fervently believed service to man was service to God.'

He said his son touched the lives of many, and that in the past few weeks, he 'realised Shival had a lot of best friends.

'Someone would call me to say he was Shival's best friend. And five minutes after, another person would call to say she was Shival's best friend. And I wondered how many best friends Shival had.

'What this shows is that he considered everyone as his best friend, which I am sure all of us will consider quite remarkable.'