A 70-year-old Barbadian who resides in New York went for his usual swim this morning not knowing that it would be his last.
When Barbados TODAY arrived on the Fitts Village Beach, St James, this morning, several onlookers were seeking to get a glimpse of the deceased, Victor Dawson, who was lying on the beach wearing blue and orange shoes with a blue beach towel covering his face.
Son Keith Odle told Barbados TODAY that his father, who lived at Mount Vernon, New York, came home on Tuesday to attend a family reunion and planned to return on October 19.
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Family members of the late Victor Dawson were distraught as they watched employees of Two Sons Funeral Home remove the body of their loved one from Fitts VIllage Beach.[/caption]
“He went away 52 years ago. I was supposed to see him tonight and I ain’t seen him since he came on Tuesday,” he said.
Odle was on his way to work when he received a phone call that his father had apparently drowned on Fitts Village beach.
“I get a phone call that my dad drown.
I was on my way to work [so] I came back and saw him here,” he sombrely reflected.
Odle said their relationship was a very close one despite having not seen each other face to face in years. Today was the first time in three years that Odle had seen his father.
“I only see him this morning cause I was supposed to come tonight. I see him now that he dead. I said I would come down tonight and spend time with Daddy but that is how I find he,” he said adding “we always talked on the phone but I did not use to see him.”
Relatives wept openly over the loss of their loved one while undertakers from Two Sons Funeral Home removed the body from Fitts Village Beach just after noon.
“[Them] is the ones that out there crying . . . but I not crying. I may cry late tonight when no one is watching,” Odle said.
Dawson leaves to mourn two children and two grandchildren, some of who reside between Barbados and the US.
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