What began as a simple walk to fetch water at a tap just a stone’s throw away from his Westbury Road, St Michael residence, ended fatally for Decourcey Bridgie Gulston, whose life was snatched in a vehicular accident.
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The deceased, Decourcey Gulston (inset), met his death close to Rihanna Drive.[/caption]
Police said Gulston, whose age is unknown, was struck by a motorcycle owned and ridden by 26-year-old Ridge Hollingsworth of Parish Land, Christ Church around 3:10 p.m. yesterday.
Few details are available as lawmen continue their probe into the incident. However, police said an incoherent Gulston was transported to the Accident & Emergency Department of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital for treatment, but he later succumbed to his injuries. Hollingsworth, meantime, complained of pain to his right knee and right elbow.
When Barbados TODAY visited Gulston’s family in Brewsters Road, the mood was sombre as his nephew, Arnold Watts, tried to come to grips with the untimely death of his uncle.
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Arnold Watts[/caption]
“His death just came over us as a shock,” the grieving 49-year-old said while shaking his head in disbelief.
Equally distressing, Watts said, was the fact that the family found out about Gulston’s demise through the media, leaving them woefully unprepared for such horrible news.
“We didn’t know that he was struck, nor did we know that he had died until we saw it last night online. When we found out that it was him I could not believe it,” he said.
The disconsolate nephew said while other family members were trying to be strong, his mum, who is Gulston’s sister, was having a difficult time coping.
He said his uncle’s passing had been made all the more difficult for his mother because she had lost both her parents and her other siblings in recent years.
“My mum took it really hard because that was her last brother. She has been crying ever since, but I hope that it will just pass over. She lost her other brother, mother, sister, father, so this is just another one we have to deal with now.”
Watts described his uncle as “a very calm and cool person” about whom he “can’t say a bad word”.
“But that is life,” he said with a sense of resignation.
At Gulston’s home district of Westbury Road the neighbours were equally saddened by the passing of the man they described as a selfless, helpful and considerate “character”.
“He was a nice guy. He was a fellow that you could approach him to do anything for you and he would do it. If anyone wanted errands run he would go to the supermarket, shop anywhere and bring back whatever you wanted,” Charles Austin told Barbados TODAY.
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Charles Austin[/caption]
“It is pretty sad. All of us raised up in Westbury Road together. He was like a character but a decent guy. He will be missed. He was the errand guy around the place,” Austin added.
Another resident who gave his name only as Mr Scantlebury added that Gulston’s sudden death had left the urban district in a state of disbelief.
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Mr Scantlebury[/caption]
“I’m a bit shaken. He was a real cool person. He would do anything for us and we would give him a little something.
“He just went to catch water in a container and it seems as though he didn’t see the bike. All of us from around here that know him are very shocked about his death. He wouldn’t do anything wrong or harm nobody. He is going to be missed a lot from around here.”
Gulston’s death brings to 18 the number of road fatalities so far this year, compared to 28 for all of last year and ten the previous year.
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