WATCH: Mom grieving over son’s horror death as 4 killed in multi-bike crash in Westmoreland
WESTMORELAND, Jamaica – The mother of Oj’e Brown, one of the four men killed in a fiery multi-bike crash in Waterworks, Westmoreland on Monday night, likened the scene of her son’s death to that of the horror movie Final Destination.
Theressa Phillips said the now-deceased men got a horrible death.
“Like Final Destination, if you have ever seen that movie, better one a him foot did hit off or he was at the hospital unconscious. When I went down there last night, I couldn’t hold my composure. But if it is even for the last time, I had to see him. Them mash up real bad, real bad and even through all of that I could still identify him. Him a the one weh him face split inna two, one of the eyes bulged and him break up. He was in the drain, and a part of him in the road,” the distraught mother recalled.
The other three deceased have been identified as 18-year-old Jermaine Scott of Pentecost Lane, Darliston; 24-year-old Rekay McLeod and 17-year-old Ohane Solomon, both of Ashton district in the parish.
Reports from the police are that on Monday night, the four men were travelling on three motorcycles when, on reaching a section of the Water Works main road, the drivers of the bikes failed to keep left and collided with the front section of a motor truck causing extensive damage to all motor vehicles.
The three drivers of the motorcycles died on the scene while the fourth man, who was a pillion rider, was rushed to the Savanna-la-Mar Public General Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries on Tuesday morning.
WATCH: Three feared dead in fiery crash in Westmoreland
Phillips told Observer Online in an interview on Tuesday afternoon that she did not like the idea of her son driving a bike.
“Mi tell him fi park the bike, everyday mi pray fi di bike mash up. Whenever the bike is not riding, Sanjay [who he is affectionately called] is in the yard. The bike drop him two times, and him nuh tell me. I only see his bruises,” Phillips said.
Phillips said she got the news of her son’s tragic death via a phone call.
“Mi guh over and mi hear mi phone a ring and mi daughter answer it and after she answer it, mi hear she scream and she even curse. Suh mi a seh wah happen Shanique, wah happen. She seh an individual seh Sanjay crash and him nah move,” a tearful Phillips recounted.
She later made her way to the crash site, where she saw the horrific scene.
“I [saw] the bikes and I saw two persons that I could identity in the group of persons. When I rose up I didn’t see him [Brown]. But the other two persons that I saw, I know he would be there,” the mother, who described her son as jovial, told Observer Online.
“I think nobody can pass a bad assertion about that little boy,” one resident, popularly known as “Miss Junie”, said.
Miss Junie says she would often warn the now-deceased to slow down, adding that the young men refused to drive their bikes cautiously on the road.
“They refuse from hearing ‘tek time’. They don’t hear take time ride. Nobody is there to tell you how the accident happened if it’s their fault or the truck [driver’s] fault. But mi know dem ride hard, mi nah guh bias, mi know dem ride hard,” she said.
Phillips, who is a porter at the Savanna-la-Mar hospital, said while she would want to give advice to other bikers, they generally refuse to take heed.
“As far as how I see it now, these young men nah learn. When incidents reach
dem they say a ride the person can’t ride. I don’t think they take it serious, until it hits home. No matter how they think they are a professional rider, that is why it is called an accident,” the mother charged before breaking down into tears.
A man told Observer Online that he and his family narrowly escaped injuries following Monday night’s incident.
“Mi just hear boom like a wah bomb and when me look mi see the fire through the grill. Suh mi run rounds the back of the house and come out,” the man, who wished to remain anonymous, said.
“Mi traumatise, mi just give God thanks it didn’t run directly into the shop, cause it would have run through the building,”.
According to the latest crash report, 324 persons have died on the road since the start of the year.
Of the 324 persons killed, 108 of those are motorcyclists.
Westmoreland is one of the parishes with the highest fatalities, being 46.