Melissa Carrasco

It gives us great sorrow to say that Melissa Carrasco has passed away. She died unexpectedly while on a vacation excursion where she unfortunately drowned.  Melissa took part in an ATV Tour of the island of Aruba through an excursion company called Phillips Animal Garden in connection with Around Aruba Tours.  She and 14 of her friends along with other tourists were escorted by a local tour guide who rode them through the rugged terrains of some of Aruba scenic and historic sites. The tour eventually stopped at a location called Shark Bay. This area is known to locals for its rough waters and its unpredictable tides.  Despite knowing this and without informing the group, The Tour Guide encouraged them to enter the waters for a 25 minutes swim, but advised to not go farther than the waist in water. Melissa’s group was never advised that they should avoid the left section of the bay as it had strong currents and undertow. At knee deeps waters, Melissa lost her footing in the water and was swept away by the strong current further out into  the ocean.  The efforts of her friends, the local tour guide and a few good samaritans went in vein and Melissa senselessly lost her life in an event that could have been completely avoided if there had been a proper warning advising the group of the areas to avoid in the water, had the group been advised of the multiple drownings that have happen over the years, had the excursion company -knowing of these incidences-been better prepared with life vests, inflatable rafts or some sort of contingency plan for something like this happening.                                                            For Melissa, this trip to Aruba was supposed to be the start of a new way of living life to the fullest.  She was working on completing her Bachelors Degree attending College Unbound and balanced a full time position with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Rhode Island as a training specialist.   Melissa was a quiet soul with a tremendous heart.  She wore many hats in her life. She was a phenomenal daughter to Adela Peña and Adriano Quezada.  A  dependable and supportive sister to Maribel Carrasco. A loving and attentive friend and cousin to too many people to name. But Melissa biggest hat was being a “Superhero” Aunt to Maribelys Segarra.                                                 The goal with this account is to help the family with costs of the funeral. Beyond that, it is to help Melissa’s dreams still reach  its potential by supporting efforts to ensure her niece and sister are cared for as she would have.  She often provide financial assistance to ensure ends were met for her sister and she had hopes of placing her niece in classes like dance and, more importantly, swimming. Melissa made up so much of her families dynamic, that anything we can raise financially will help ease the burden of her no longer being here for some amazing people who shared Meli with the rest of us.                                                                   Sweetest Melissa, We love you and We miss you, we will do all we can to protect and support your family while you look down and protect us all.