Cricket West Indies selector, Lockhart Sebastien has lauded fast bowler Shannon Gabriel for his generosity. Sebastien is from Dominica which has been ravaged by Hurricane Maria last month.
“I want to make a special mention to Shannon Gabriel. I met him last week and he said to me ‘Sebo I need to give you some things to take home because things are rough’. I told him ‘no problem,’” said the 61-year-old.
He continued, “On Sunday he came to the Brian Lara Stadium and he opened his vehicle and I asked him which box should I take. He looked and me and said ‘everything’. I
n it were two brand new generators and maybe US$1000 of stuff and I said to myself people look at cricketers and say they are greedy. This is a guy with a kind heart…I didn’t ask him for anything and he brought all this stuff and you have to congratulate people like that.
I was stunned by his contribution and (ex-TT coach) Gus (Logie) made a contribution as well.”
Sebastien expressed his thanks to the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board, Queen’s Park Cricket Club and Sports Company of Trinidad and Tobago for organising the Hurricane Relief Charity T20 match to raise funds for those impacted by the recent hurricanes. The former Windward Islands cricketer stated that all assistance is welcomed because Dominica and other affected islands are in a terrible state.
“Some people will not be able to survive this and it would take a long long time to recover. If you visited Dominica before the hurricane and return now, you would wonder if it is the same place. Dominica was a country that had so many trees.
It looks like some army men came and decided that they wanted to bomb the place. All our agriculture is gone and I fear we will be living very unhealthy in Dominica because our supermarkets were destroyed and we don’t know what we will eat.
A guy told me rice and cornbeef is a big meal in Dominica now. It is a tough time for us,” said Sebastien.