After a seven-year battle with bladder cancer, cultural icon Kayla Lockhart-Edwards died yesterday at her home. She was 60.
Her husband of 36 years, senator and attorney Desmond Edwards, told The Guardian that she died peacefully at 4:15 p.m.
“Four days ago she told us to let her go,” he said. “Two days ago she said to me before she meditated: ‘I bless you Desmond, I will always bless you.’
“And today (Sunday), I played (the keyboard) for her and just before she passed she nodded her head and smiled,” he added. “We met through music, and I played a song that she wrote for me: ‘You’re my everything’.”
Mrs Lockhart-Edwards, a multi-gifted entertainer, was a world-class singer, producer, and songwriter who created over 12 major musicals. She also wrote numerous inspirational pieces and folksongs and had been at the forefront of cultural development and policy in The Bahamas for over 30 years.
“We provided all the care here at home because she didn’t want to go to the hospital,” her husband said. “She had five sisters who gave her round-the-clock care since January.” He added that his wife was born with a small hole in her heart and doctors at that time did not believe that she would live to see 16. He said he thought that prognosis was both interesting and ironic as she lived past 16 by some 44 years, to see her 60th birthday.
Mr Edwards also said he was certain that there would be an outpouring of support from the Bahamian people for his wife’s life work as many had thanked her for touching their lives. “Because she gave her life to the Bahamian people,” he said. “She validated Bahamian culture.
That was her mission: to validate her culture and to make us proud of who we are.” “She was a person who fought for The Bahamas, for our National Anthem at Independence. She also directed the music at our first Independence celebration,” he added.
By: MINDELL SMALL, The Nassau Guardian
