Lennox Bigwoods, Westmoreland – Less than four months ago, 39-year-old Desmond “Dockey” McNeil said goodbye to his wife, mother and two daughters and jetted off to Canada to take up duties on the Sung Dee farm in Simcoe, Toronto.

This was his second time on the Ministry of Labour-administered Farm Work Programme, and according to his mother, Cynthia McGrowther, it would probably have been his last.

“The last me hear from him was week before last Tuesday, and he said ‘Mama, me soon come, and when me come this time me naw lef you'” McGrowther said.

But McNeil never made it home. He was one of two

Jamaican farm workers mowed down by a motor vehicle in Canada on Tuesday. William Bell, 54, of Sandy River, Kellits, Clarendon also died in the accident, while Frederick Smith of Tickey Tickey, Coleyville, Manchester was taken to hospital in serious condition. A car hit all three men off their bicycles, Jamaican officials said. The men were hit from behind, and up to press time yesterday the police in Canada were said to be continuing their investigations.

His mother, who has 10 children, had to be taken to a neighbourhood doctor, who broke the news of her son’s death to her.

“I have 10 of them – and the 10 of them is so good to me, but that one (Dockey) never leave me. Him so tender to me, because him and me live nearby. And all that I was doing, he say he is not leaving me,” McGrowther said.

“Him look the wood (for fire), him dig the food, him plant the food, him do everything for me, so me and him was so close because the rest they are away working,” the distressed McGrowther added, as she burst into tears.

She told the Observer on Thursday that her son had been looking forward to returning home to his wife Bernice, 33, and their two daughters Yaniqua, 17, and Onica, 15 in November.

He had bought a computer for his daughters, and promised his wife that he would return with enough money to complete their two-bedroom dream house so that the family could move in.

“The last time we spoke was on Monday (the day before he died) and he told me that him soon come, and I told him that I am just counting down the days because I long to see him,” his widow Bernice recalled, as the tears welled up in her eyes.

“I can tell you that he loved his children very, very much. He is a good family man. Always want to know that food on the table. Always going just want to know that we are all right”, she continued.

Mother McGrowther agreed, saying that he was not only a kind son who always stuck by her side, but that he was also a loving husband and family man who would always provide for his family.

Meanwhile, both daughters, who were still visibly traumatised, did not speak much. Onica said she spoke to her father last Saturday. She said she was not feeling well at the time, and that her dad had been very concerned. She said her daddy told her then that he would not be bringing much for her and her older sister as he had bought them a computer.

Residents in the sleepy district also mourned his passing, and several visited the family’s home to offer their condolences and support.