Faith and the power of talking helped the Nusum family through their first year since losing their son, brother and cousin last March.

Shannon Nusum was only 20-years-old when he lost his fight for life in the ICU ward at the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital on March 8.

He had been on his way to work at the Bermuda Industrial Union's Credit Union when he collided with a truck on North Shore Road on Monday, March 5.

Last night his family spoke about how they handled a quiet house and a missing "Play Station" buddy for the past year. Shannon's mother, Frieda Nusum said: "Especially when emergency vehicles would go by. It would just bring everything back. I would sit back in the recliner and cry. I was here on the morning he was getting ready to go to his job for a meeting and he came inside and said I am getting ready to go.

"I said you going to take it slow and he said yeah mom. So he goes out the door and it was about 20 minutes to ten and I heard emergency vehicles.

"I thought, here they are disturbing the peace again not knowing they were going to my son. The phone in the bedroom rang and it was the hospital who said my son has been involved in an accident.

"After I got off the phone the other phone rang and the Police said they were calling about my son. They said when they got to the scene they had to wait for the EMT and they said he had head injuries.

"That was it. Luckily my girlfriend was there. When I got down to the hospital I didn't know who all those people were. My oldest son couldn't come into the hospital and he stayed in his car all night.

"Then when the doctor or nurses called us into the ICU I could see him lying there and he looked like he was sleeping.

"She started talking about where the injuries were I said not today, not today. Take me out. When they called us back in I was stuck to the floor and I never saw him after that. I never went back into his room.

"I just had to remember it would get better. I have gotten through it because of my faith. I believe in the Bible and It talks about resurrection so I know one day I will see my son again. That's what gets me through every day.

"Everyone tells me I look good you know for losing a son but that's the hope I have is showing and they can see it. I am projecting that hope.

"My older sister would call and come by, everybody called. Once I said I was fine, I think they were fine. We were never without support."

His father Sheridan said: "He would make a lot of noise. Sheridan (the middle son) loves his sleep and if he was still sleeping he would go into his bedroom and just bug him.

"If we were still sleeping in our bed he would come in and say: 'get up, get up'. The funny thing is that's what we miss now.

"It's a feeling that you cannot identify with. It's an empty space there and you feel bad but it's just not something you can identify with.

"But who identifies with a loss of a child? Especially at such an age just before he becomes a man. He hadn't even gotten his car driving license.

"That day he was going to take his test. It's odd how you hold onto certain things. It has become easier to speak about Shannon, but there are members of the family who are still impacted by it.

"You have to have somebody to talk to. Some people stop living. For me it doesn't honour the person who died. Then their death becomes two.

"We have got to interact with other people. You cannot shut off or die for that loved one. We have to talk about it. When you cry you've got to cry.

Mr. Nusum also had a message for the motorists who don't take care.

He said: "You don't realise it, the pain you leave behind when you have an accident.

"It's not just young people. There are older people who just do not pay attention. You cannot laugh at death. It would be nice for people to be more responsible. We always say: 'What's wrong with people?'

"People don't value their lives, worse still they don't value their family relations and friends."

Keimon Lawrence, 33 and his first cousin said: "My room was above his and he used to tap the ceiling when he wanted to play Play Station. He loved Play Station.

"We both played for the same team. He would get disappointed if he wasn't playing, but in the last game he performed well.

"From his first touch he almost scored. It was one of our best seasons and it made me play harder. If we won a trophy I made sure I tried to get one for his mom and dad.

"After we won the FA cup we caravanned to the spot where he died and me and my aunt just broke down. We were part of a twosome. We used to look out for each other."

Shannon also left behind two older brothers, Sheridan and Sean who find it difficult to discuss their brother with the public.