"I Am Going To Miss Toya, She Is The Only Person I Trust" - Says Joe Bogdanovich

Although Toya had been suffering from diabetes for some time, her spouse, Josef Bogdanovich, said her death came at a time when they were planning to get married.

In a solemn interview yesterday, the CEO of Downsound Records explained that despite his fiancée's ailment, they were still planning on getting married.

"We have been together for 13 years, from she was 19. We were engaged to get married and we were talking about it a couple weeks ago and that she was going to get well; we had the donors, and then she died," he said.

"We loved each other a lot. We had good times together and we were very close. Toya was exceptional as an artiste and as a fashionista. I miss her a lot. She is the only one I trust in Jamaica. She was a real beauty inside and out. She was great."

However, Toya's life was cut short on May 7 after suffering from diabetes for a few years. She got dialysis treatment at the Diabetic Association of Jamaica in St Andrew and she got additional treatment at the University Hospital of the West Indies. She also received treatment in Los Angeles, Miami and Brooklyn.

But Bogdanovich said he was amazed by the level of positivity Toya displayed throughout her illness.

"It was hard for her because the diabetes took her eyes, her kidney and then it took her heart, and then she died," he said.

"I don't know how she did it to keep positive that she would get well. She was blind for eight months and she still kept the faith and remained positive. I enjoyed her company. She was funny, witty, but above all, very uplifting. She gave freely."

Bogdanovich added that their six-year-old son has been coping well with the situation.

"He is doing exceptionally well. He is a great boy, and he has a lot of traits of his mother," said

And although Toya was positive, Bogdanovich said dialysis treatment in Jamaica was very difficult.

"I've been to several dialysis centres with Toya and I have seen often that all the beds are full. These patients have a community and they come there several days a week every week, if they can afford it, and they develop a bond of hope, pulling for one another, and then as it happens, one dies. Then another one. This diabetes epidemic is trulyfrightening," he said, adding that doctors and nurses are ill-equipped to administer dialysis treatment properly.

Toya's funeral service will be held on May 24 and a wake was scheduled to be held for her in Washington Gardens, St Andrew, last night. Her body is expected to be flown to Jamaica from the United States on May 21.