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Florida’s Vosean Joseph motivated by Jamaican roots, Miami upbringing

Related Topics: Florida, Jamaicans, Jamaica

MIAMI — Florida linebacker Vosean Joseph hasn’t enjoyed trick-or-treating for almost a decade.

Candy and costumes were ruined for him and his family on Oct. 30, 2007.

“We were all dressed up and I got a phone call,” said Joseph’s mother, Nattalene Vanreil-McDonald. “Halloween has never been the same since.”

Vanreil-McDonald found out her aunt, Ivy McFarland, had suddenly passed away from cancer in Jamaica. McFarland was the cornerstone of their family.

“That was like my mom,” Vanreil-McDonald said. “She is the one who raised me and so many others. She was the oldest of seven, but she served as a mother figure for everyone.