Noel Thompson, Freelance Writer
Distraught: Sharon Williams and her brother Horace Gregory, the aunt and father of Germaine Gregory, who was killed in a traffic accident along the Montpelier main road in St. James on Friday night. Ms. Williams and Mr. Gregory look on in shock, as they try to come to terms with the reality that Germaine is dead. - Noel Thompson Photo
WESTERN BUREAU:
Germaine Gregory was only 25 years old but was a dedicated husband and father of four, one who worked assiduously to maintain his family.
But in the blink of an eye, everything crumbled, never to be rekindled.
Gregory was a taxi operator who lived in Lambs River, Westmoreland, but plied the Montego Bay to Bethel Town route. On Friday night, about 7:30, he was making his final trip to Bethel Town before heading home to his family.
While driving along the Montpelier main road in St. James, heading towards Bethel Town, the Toyota Corolla, which Gregory was driving collided with a Toyota Hiace tour bus, killing him and five of his passengers. Gregory was not at fault, according to preliminary investigations.
Four of the dead were trapped inside the vehicle. "I was at home when someone called me saying Germaine was dead. I couldn't believe it so we left for the scene. When we arrived, he was lying in the car with his head backward," said a distraught Horace Gregory, Germaine's father.
Watched helplessly
"We just stood there and watched helplessly while the firemen tried to cut them from the car. There was nothing we could do," he said. Mr. Gregory looked dazed and only spoke intermittently. His eyes and mouth were wide open, his feet jammed beneath the pedals and the car engine and body parts fastened against him," he said.
Germaine's aunt, Sharon Williams, spoke highly of him and was the last relative to see him alive. "We were together in Bethel Town a few hours earlier. He said he was going on the road and I told him to be careful and he promised he would. Now all we have are memories," Ms. Williams told The Sunday Gleaner. A week ago, Germaine's wife Monica gave birth to a baby girl.
Meanwhile, family members and friends are still reeling from the untimely death of 21-year-old law student, Nischo Brenee McPherson-Reid. She was one of the passengers travelling in the car Germaine Gregory was driving. Nischo had gone to Barbados where she studied law and had returned to the island to complete her course.
She was scheduled to resume studies in September, but was on holiday work at a Digicel store in Montego Bay and was returning home when the accident occurred.
