Devastating double tragedy - Family loses stepfather weeks after daughter’s murder at school

Already struggling to deal with the tragic loss of Akeilia White, who was murdered at her school last month, a Manchester family has been dealt another devastating blow following the death of another member on Monday.

Akeilia White, 20, was stabbed by a 17-year-old while in a classroom at the Catholic College of Mandeville in Manchester on May 13. The reality of the youngster's death had hardly sunk in when the family was again thrown into a tailspin when Orrett Tyndale, Akeilia's stepfather, died suddenly at their home in the central Jamaica parish.

Gaye Tyndale-Simpson recounted the harrowing moment when she received the distressing call from her brother's stepdaughter, who was with him when he collapsed. She was told that he had passed out unconscious and wasn't breathing. Despite efforts to revive him, he passed.

The family had already been grappling with grief following the tragic stabbing death of Akeilia a few weeks earlier.

"My brother was not one who really expressed himself, he was not very expressive with his emotions; he usually tries to stifle it. But with Akeilia's death, he was having a hard time. He was very emotional, he was sad. He was really broken, and I think he was just stressed with the whole process of seeing and knowing what happened to her," Tyndale-Simpson said, adding that her brother's spouse of over 10 years, Akeilia's mother Marrian White, is struggling to cope as well.

"She's having a hard time, I speak with her daily. I spoke with her this morning and all she keeps saying is, 'I wish someone would just wake me up from this nightmare.' This is devastating for her; they've always been together, they've always lived together," Tyndale-Simpson said.

She also said that her brother was White's backbone and strength. Now that he is gone, White is overwhelmed and exhausted.

"He was really like the caretaker and everything. He would make sure dinner was cooked, everything is cleaned, that things are prepared. Even with Akeilia's passing, he was preparing for visitors coming in, making sure everything was in place, and now she's solo. So all that responsibility falls on her, in addition to grieving the loss of both of them," she said.

Tyndale-Simpson told THE STAR that her brother was an exceptional father who, in addition to being a father to his two stepdaughters, had two biological sons and one daughter.

"You hear of things like this happening to other people, but when you're in that position it's a whole different perspective," said Tyndale-Simpson.

"He was amazing, he was my big brother. He looked up to me and I looked up to him. He was never a complainer, always made me laugh. He was very jovial and comical, and he would always make sure when I'm coming to Jamaica that everything was in place. If there was anything I asked him to do, he would make sure it was done," Tyndale-Simpson said.