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Topics: World News, Bayesian yacht
Yasmeen Hamadeh
Topics: World News, Bayesian yacht
A chef who was onboard the superyacht that sank off the coast of Sicily is being remembered by his loved ones as a 'one-of-a-kind special human being.'
Earlier this week on August 19, a 183ft vessel called the Bayesian sank off the coast of Sicily after a violent storm led to a tornado ripping through the ship. There were 22 people on board including 12 passengers and 10 crew members.
At the time, rescuers on the scene were able to retrieve 15 of the passengers and swiftly began operations to recover the six remaining missing people on board.
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As the week progressed, the Italian coast guard were able to find five of those six passengers.
One of the people onboard who was initially recovered the day of was Chef Recaldo Thomas. His family has since confirmed his passing.
Speaking to The Independent, one of Thomas' friends who spoke to him 'nearly every day,' described him as a 'one-of-a-kind special human being.'
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"He loved his life, his friends, and his job," she added.
A Canadian-Antiguan chef, Thomas was working toward fixing his late parents' house and a close friend of his revealed that he was almost at his goal.
Speaking to the BBC, Gareth Williams — who had known Thomas for 30 years — said that the chef used to live in Antigua during the yachting off-season, and kept working in the field despite being tired to achieve his goal.
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"He told me just the other day that he needed to work two more seasons to fix up his late parents' house," Williams said. "He loved yachting, but he was tired."
Williams went on to describe Thomas as someone with 'the deepest, most sultry voice in the world, and a smile that lit up the room.'
Meanwhile, another friend, Eli Fuller, said he first met Thomas 25 years ago and that he was a role model to young people on the Caribbean island.
"Personality was very important in his job. The world's richest people want to hang out with someone social. He was sought after," Fuller said. "The kids would see all these white people working on yachts. For them to see an Antiguan man traveling all over the world — it was important for our community."
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Italian authorities have yet to formally confirm the identities of the new five bodies recovered from the shipwreck. However, it was previously reported that the six people missing were Mike Lynch, a British tech tycoon, his daughter Hannah, Chairman of Morgan Stanley International Jonathan Bloomer and his wife Judy, and lawyer Christopher Morvillo and his wife Neda.