THE quiet farming community of Sandy River in Kellits, Clarendon has been mourning since Wednesday, after receiving news of the death of William Bell, 54, one of the two Jamaican farm workers mowed down by a motor car in Ottawa, Canada.

Bell along with fellow Jamaican farm workers, Desmond McNeill of Lennox Bigwoods in Westmoreland, and Frederick Smith of Ticky Ticky, Coleyville, Manchester, were riding their pedal cycles in Ontario on Tuesday from a camp to their base at the Simcoe Town Centre when they were hit from behind by a motor car. Bell and McNeill were pronounced dead at hospital, while Smith was admitted in serious condition.

The bad news did not go down well with family members on Wednesday when they got news that the father of eight and the breadwinner for the family would never come back home.

“Mi still inna shock. It mash up we life because he was our only help,” said Lynette Bell, wife of the deceased. “Right now I don’t know what we going to do, we don’t have a clue,” she continued. She was a picture of dejection as she spoke while trying to comfort her granddaughter.

Bell’s eldest daughter, Annmarie, 28, was visibly shaken and said she still could not believe her father has gone.

“He was everything to us and without him we are lost because nobody in the household has a job,” she said.

The unfinished building that houses Bell’s wife, along with some of his children and grandchildren was testament to the struggles of the family.

“We are poor, mi sickly and mi have pressure. I don’t know what we going to do,” said his widow.

Bell’s 15 year-old son, also named William, described his father as a dedicated family man.

“He was a very good man. A man that people in the community love. He’s not a smoker and he’s not a drinker,” he said.

Neighbours and other members of the community said Bell was a role model.

“Mr B was a hardworking man. We never have a problem wid him. We and him family move good,” said one of his neighbours, who gave his name only as Patrick.

Bell was on his sixth tour of duty on a farm programme in Canada, where he was engaged in the reaping of fruits and vegetables.

Instead of the broad smile and goodies for his family, they will this time receive his body in a coffin. Gone from them forever.

The labour ministry said his body will be flown home in a casket ready for burial at no expense to the family. But with the breadwinner gone, his widow is hoping that supportive services will be offered to the family.

In the meantime, Toronto-based chief liaison officer for the farm work programme, John Wright, is overseeing the matter on behalf of the Jamaican government, to determine liability and compensation for the families of the victims.