Bull Bay family mourns patriarch's death in road accident
Published:Saturday | July 14, 2018 | 12:00 AMCarlene Davis
For the family of William Smith Sr, Wednesday, July 11, 2018 is a day they will never forget. That's the day they heard that he had been involved in a serious motor vehicle accident and had been rushed to hospital.
Even while he was being treated by the doctors for serious injuries, Smith Sr remained positive but he died the following day.
Yesterday his son, William Smith Jr, said he would like his father to be remembered as a jovial person who loved God, and always placed his family first.
"You could not be around him and your spirit is not lifted up, he was a very jovial person. A man who loved his church, a family man and he loved his family, he loved his job," said Smith Jr.
The 62-year-old Smith Sr of Bull Bay, St Andrew, was the managing director of Marnajay Cable Services and was providing outside plant construction and maintenance for FLOW Jamaica in its southern region - a service he had been providing to the company since 2000.
Smith Jr told The Sunday Gleaner that he had been working with his father at the cable company for the past six years.
He said he was his father's right-hand man, and was with him every day except the day of the accident, because he had a doctor's appointment.
Multiple broken bones
According to Smith Jr, he was told that his father was waiting to cross the street at 19 Balmoral Avenue, when a vehicle hit him, pushing him into the path of a bus that ran over him. He was taken to hospital with multiple broken bones.
"I was very heartbroken and shaken up when I saw him, they were doing
X-rays and he talked to me and asked me about my appointment. Even though he had broken body parts, he was talking to me lively and upbeat in his spirit. He said, 'The one day you were not there with me look what happened, but don't worry about it, I will recover, I am strong'," Smith Jr recounted.
In a statement last Friday, FLOW Jamaica said as a family they were deeply saddened by the incident, and expressed condolences to the family of Smith Sr.
"His memory and the impact of his work will forever be with us," said FLOW, as it noted that his association with the company started in September 1976 when he was hired as a network maintenance technician.
FLOW said an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the accident is currently being conducted by its Business Continuity Management Safety and Security team.