WAKEFIELD, Trelawny —Members of the Wakefield Seventh-day Baptist Church have been plunged into mourning after 70-year-old deacon, Oscar Russell, was mowed down by a motorcycle as he left church late Saturday afternoon.

The tragedy unfolded in full view of some members who were at the entrance of the church. The driver of the motorcycle reportedly sustained injuries and has since been admitted to hospital in critical condition.

Head of the Wakefield Seventh-day Baptist Church, Pastor Ronald Blissett, who was ministering at another church when he was told of the fatal incident, said it has left members shell-shocked.

“It really affected members emotionally because they were almost seeing it before their eyes. The church has been impacted, however, we are dealing with that and we have been providing additional support [and] counselling the brethren to deal with that aspect of the shock and trauma,” Blissett told the Jamaica Observer.

“There is the expectation that one day we will all transition. There is an awareness that at some point it will come to all of us but the way this one happened, it took us by surprise,” he added.

According to Blissett, Russell – a devout member who lives in Montego Bay, St James, but who travels to Wakefield where he worships on Sabbath days – was hit by the motorcycle after he was returning to the church from across the road.

One resident, who did not wish to be identified by name, told the Observer the impact of the crash flung the churchman between the church wall and a utility pole.

“I was on a call with a friend overseas when I heard the bang. I told my friend that it was an accident, and he hung up. When I went to look, they had to be pulling Russell from between the pole and the wall,” the resident recounted.

The biker, who was thrown from the motorcycle, sustained what appeared to be serious head injuries, the resident added.

Both Russell and the biker were taken to Falmouth Public General Hospital where Russell succumbed to his injuries and the motorcyclist was admitted.

For Trelawny residents, the incident brings back memories of April 2019 when 55-year-old Romeal Wilson, a Montego Bay Red Cap porter, was killed tragically after being struck by a motorcycle in Bounty Hall, a community bordering Wakefield in the parish. Wilson was attending a wake for his mother at the time of that incident.