Twin sister dreamt of rider’s death

WESTERN BUREAU:

When Kimone Thomas awakened from her dream minutes before 6 p.m. on Sunday, she immediately knew something was wrong.

Moments later came the devastating news that her twin brother, Kymani ‘Fatta’ Thomas, lost his life in a motorcycle crash.

“I was feeling tired, so I was taking a nap … . I dreamt that I was travelling on a motorcycle with my neighbour and it was about to crash when he shouted out, which caused me to jump up out of my sleep,” she told The Gleaner at her home in Whitehouse, Westmoreland, on Monday.

“I could feel that something was wrong, so I began reaching for my phone, then it rang,” recalled Kimone. “It was the same neighbour, who was in the dream, who was calling, and I heard him say, “Kimone, ‘Fatta’ dead. Him crash and dead. Mi stand up over him body right now’.”

The 24-year-old Kymani was one of four young men killed in a horrific crash along the Culloden main road in Whitehouse, while travelling back home in a seven-motorcycle convoy from an afternoon of fun and frolic at Sweet River, near Ferris, also in Westmoreland.

The other three deceased young men have been identified as 17-year-old Tevin ‘Bread Back’ Bailey, 21-year-old Arsenio Forbes, and 25-year-old Renardo Fenton. All four men are from the Whitehouse community and are past students of New Hope Primary School.

Bailey’s grandmother, Shirley Rowe, was in a daze when The Gleaner visited her home.

She struggled to understand why her grandson, who would usually be at home playing video games, decided to go on the trip to the river with the other men. For her, he was unlike them, not interested in motorcycles.

“You rarely see him outside of the house, only if I send him out to the shop,” said Rowe. “He is always inside playing video game on his tablet. There is one game about bread back that he loves very much and that is how he got that nickname ‘Bread Back’.

“His mother is not here so he lives with me. He is like my right hand. He is the one I would always be calling on to do things for me; sometimes I don’t even have to ask him. He is always so willing and helpful,” said the grandmother as tears streamed down her face. “He was a special child. I don’t know how I am going to manage without him.”

There was much sadness in the community on Monday, and it was clear that the deceased men were well loved and respected.

Erica Cooke Murdock, the principal of New Hope Primary School, and four other members of staff, including two guidance counsellors, visited with the affected families while The Gleaner was on location, and they, too, shared in the grief.

“They were all with us at the school on Labour Day, assisting with the projects we worked on,” said Cooke Murdock. “As a close-knit community, their deaths have affected the entire community, so we are visiting with the families and offering our support to them. We want them to know that we are here for them, and they can call on us.”

According to the police report, the drivers of two motorcycles in the convoy, each with a pillion rider, attempted to overtake a Toyota Yaris motorcar and crashed head-on into a Toyota Hiace motor truck before rebounding into the Toyota Yaris.

All four men sustained major injuries and were pronounced dead upon arrival at hospital.

adrian.frater@gleanerjm.com