BY EMILY SINGH
It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of a devoted father, partner, son and friend, Davey Rochester. Words simply do not do Davey justice; his actions and larger than life personality spoke for itself. At the age of just thirty, Davey Rochester lost his battle to a rare cancer by the name of Adult T-Cell Leukemia Lymphoma.
Following his diagnosis in October 2015, his partner Krista Gear has been by his side providing him with endless love, support and encouragement. As his condition worsened it was determined that he would need a stem cell transplant to save his life. Davey’s greatest match would come from someone who was of Caribbean background but the sad truth is that only .02% of Caribbean donors are on the global registry.
On March 3rd 2016 Davey passed away but not without a fight. For the past four months he fought hard to beat this illness. His unwavering positivity and strength was what kept him fighting until the end. Lainie Goldstein, a close friend of Davey and Krista has been a tremendous supporter throughout this battle. Through her efforts on gofundme she was able to raise over five thousand dollars to date to help cover the costs of Davey’s final farewell. In addition she had created a page on Facebook to encourage the community to help find Davey a match. That page now serves as a memorial to Davey where friends and loved ones have been sharing stories and pictures to honor and celebrate the amazing individual Davey was.
Davey was born and raised in Jamaica and immigrated to Canada to pursue civil engineering at Seneca College. During his studies he met his partner Krista Gear and the two quickly became a united family. Along with Krista’s two beautiful daughters the pair had two more little girls together. Davey was an exceptional father to his children and he is often photographed holding his daughters with the biggest, brightest smile on his face.
A swabbing event was set to take place on March 18th at the Jamaican Canadian Society located at 995 Arrow Road, Toronto. This event is still happening and is now being done in honor of Davey. The community needs to come out and ensure that others lives are not lost to this illness.
Davey leaves behind his mother Hyacinth, his partner Krista and his four beautiful daughters as well as many extended family and friends. As we grieve the loss of Davey we must keep his beautiful legacy alive and ensure that others do not face a battle like Davey’s. The Caribbean community is being urged to get out, get tested and get on the registry. On behalf of the entire Toronto Caribbean Newspaper family we would like to express our deepest condolences to Krista, the children and Davey’s friends and family during this difficult and trying time. Anyone who is interested in contributing to the final farewell of Davey Rochester can visit www.gofundme.com/daveysfund.
