By Nelson A. King
The widow of Trinidadian
“Iron Man,” Hansel B. Leon, Sr.,
who died in his native land on
March 25, says she is “stunned”
by his sudden passing. Leon was
77.
“His death has stunned me,”
Trinidadian Gemma Thomas-
Ahyase told Caribbean Life in
an exclusive interview over the
weekend. “I’m not happy that,
in Trinidad, they published a lot
of his personal information, but
that will be handled later.”
Thomas-Ahyase, a Brooklyn
lawyer, did not elaborate the latter
statement.
Leon’s daughters, Krishanda
Leon-Jemmott and Natasha
Leon-Craigwell – both residents
of Brooklyn – told Caribbean Life
that their father died at Couva
Hospital in Trinidad and Tobago.
“As a family, it is still unclear
of how he died,” they said in an
interview.
But Herman Hall, the Grenadian
born publisher of the Brooklyn
based, Caribbean American
magazine, Everybody’s, posted
on Facebook, on March 26,
that Leon, who resided in Flatbush,
You Belong at
KINGSBOROUGH
C O M M U N I T Y C O L L E G E
@CUNYkcc
Caribbean L 14 ife, April 24-30, 2020
Brooklyn, was “a victim of
COVID-19.”
In conveying what she said
was her side of the story, Thomas-
Ahyase, who resides in Canarsie,
Brooklyn, said she and Leon had
travelled to Trinidad and Tobago,
in February, during the twinisland
republic’s carnival season.
“We normally go there every
year,” she said. “I have family in
Port-of-Spain (the Trinidad capital),
and he has a family home in
San Fernando (considered Trinidad’s
second capital). He would
normally spend most of his time
with me and my family.
“He was spending more time
in San Fernando this time, when
he became ill,” added Thomas-
Ahyase, however.
Around Friday, March 6, she
said Leon told her in a telephone
conversation that he wasn’t eating
much.
“But he always talks about
eating sparsely and scolds me
for buying and eating too many
different things,” she said. “So, I
had no reason to suspect he had
no appetite.”
On March 8, Thomas-Ahyase
said Leon “came into Pizza Hut
in Gulf City (in Trinidad) and sat
across from me after I’d travelled
from Port-of-Spain.
“We didn’t touch, but he
looked really haggard, and his
eyes looked ‘veiled’,” she said.
“I thought it was a result of his
love of the bottle. So, next day, I
scolded him on the phone from
Port-of-Spain.
“That Wednesday, he told me
his chest was tight, and I pleaded
with him to go to the hospital
or (to see) a doctor,” Thomas-
Ahyase added. “But he went to
bed instead.
“We agreed for him to come to
Port-of-Spain next day,” she continued,
“but he didn’t have the
strength to get himself together.
I just thought he had the flu, but
I was concerned.”
On the morning of Friday,
April 13, Thomas-Ahyase said
she got the Trinidad and Tobago
number for Leon’s “best friend’s
wife, who I knew was staying in
San Fernando, and I asked her to
take him to a doctor or hospital
for me.”
“She had to call an ambulance,”
Thomas-Ahyase said.
“Everyone is speculating, but me
Hansel and Gemma at their wedding ceremony at City Hall,
Brooklyn, New York on Sept. 29, 2017.
and his best friends from Georgia,
and one son and his youngest
daughter, were the closest
to him.
“I was closest of all, because
we spent most of the time together
at my home and his,” she
added. “He/we were not on any
cruise.”
Thomas-Ahyase said she and
Leon “became best friends for
four years before we began a relationship
and married quietly.”
She disclosed that they were
married in the Municipal Building,
downtown Brooklyn, on
Sept. 29, 2017, and that “there
was no wedding.”
Widow of Trini ‘Iron Man’ Hansel
Leon ‘stunned’ by his sudden death
Affordable, first-class
education
Personal attention
Commitment to
student success
APPLY NOW
www.cuny.edu/apply
www.kbcc.cuny.edu | 718-368-4600
2001 Oriental Boulevard, Brooklyn
INJURED?
WE WIN YOU $$$
CALL FOR A FREE CONSULTATION
Have you been seriously injured
through a fault of another party?
Serving All Boros
Hablamos Espanol
Offi ce is Handicapped Accessible
No fee unless we recover
Free Consultation
HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS
RECOVERED FOR OUR CLIENTS
Piergrossi & Peterman
wewinyoucash.com
844-300-6648
Call our TOLL FREE hotline
for your complimentary consultation
/apply
/www.kbcc.cuny.edu
/apply
/www.kbcc.cuny.edu
/wewinyoucash.com