MANDEVILLE, Manchester — For the late Paul Byfield, news videography had been his livelihood for close to two decades.

It is one which he pursued with intense dedication and “no sense of time” when carrying out his work.

That job, for those who knew him, had a higher purpose as he felt it could be used to “right wrongs” and was on somewhat of a crusade for change in many areas of the society.

Known for his prompt, energetic movements and colourful character, his mission was cut short recently, following a more than two-year battle with colon cancer. He was buried on Saturday, October 8.

However, Byfield, as he was called by many, fought resiliently.

“The last few months really was an example of strength and courage. Those of us who were close to him knew how sick he was. He was very sick but he never wanted to stop working. He was still at a number of events even up to a few weeks before his death when he could barely lift the camera,” said Central Manchester Member of Parliament Peter Bunting in a reflection.

Deeply spiritual in his mindset, Irvin Forbes, managing editor at CVM Television where Byfield built his career, said that he always advocated for more stories “weh God please bout” to be done.

“Paul always had advice, he always had ideas,” Forbes said, ‘Talk to some pastor, put on a programme every week or every month. Talk to church people. Too much crime man. Unuh need fi carry some story weh God please bout,” he recalled him saying.

He said that Byfield believed that praising God was as much about what happened inside a place of worship as what is done outside and on one occasion, when he was in Manchester for a convention, he convinced him to forgo going straight to the event in order to see to an elderly woman’s plight.

“He would say things like ‘a such yuh a worship God, yuh nah fi go in a church, a same way yuh a praise God like if yuh go a di convention’. He would also have advice on paying tithes. (He said) give it to the poor,” said Forbes.

Forbes said that Byfield’s commitment to duty led him to express concerns and the possibility of pursuing a story for a woman that he saw with two children and was curious about, even as he was visiting the Mandeville Regional Hospital to address his own medical needs.

In addition to his drive to see change, friends and loved ones said that one other great motivation for him was to ensure that his family was doing well at all times.

“I saw my dad as strength, protector, provider. He was committed to making us happy. If (something) was important to us, it became important to him,” said his daughter Annakay.

His son, Owen Byfield said that he was “grateful” that he was a part of his life.

He acknowledged his mother, Jeneita Byfield, for also being a source of strength for his father “through the ups and downs”.

“I just want to salute you,” he said.

Paul Albert Byfield, over the years, did what is remembered as transformational news coverage in Manchester, St Elizabeth, Southern Trelawny and northern Clarendon.

His son-in-law Mark Thomas felt that he was a “skillful navigator” at life up until his final days, where he made a decision to re-enter the church as a baptised member.