Walkers lose another son to vehicular accident

The phrase ‘lightning never strikes twice in the same place’ may soon become a saying of the past.

On Monday afternoon, 33-year-old taxi driver Clifford ‘Cliff’ Walker lost his battle for life following a horrific single car crash, a fate shared by his older brother almost twenty years ago.{{more}}

On the Whit Monday holiday in 1992, Walker’s older brother, national footballer Garfield ‘Ahwoo’ Walker died following a vehicular accident when the car in which he was a passenger overturned in Arnos Vale.

The well-loved defender had just left a football camp where he was preparing for an international tournament when the accident occurred.

This time around, according to police reports, at about 4:30 am on Monday, March 29, the youngest son of Percy and Jean Walker was a passenger in his vehicle HL 481 when it ran off the road and struck a retaining wall at the side of the road in Buccament Bay on the Leeward highway.

The police report states that the vehicle was travelling to Layou and was driven by Layou resident Sati Samuel.

Walker, who suffered head and internal injuries, died at the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital later that day.

Since the young man’s death, the phones at his Frenches, Kingstown, home have been ringing constantly, with calls of condolences coming from far and wide to his parents, as well as his brother Dexter, who is also a former national footballer.

When Searchlight visited the family home, the parents, though in mourning, were staying strong.

“I am taking everything in stride,” said mom Jean, speaking on behalf of the family.

“My philosophy in life is that I believe in a supreme being. I put everything in His hands and I trust Him so that when good comes, I accept it – when bad comes, I try to look for the good in it.”

The matriarch said that she had a good relationship with her last born child, a Leo born, who she described as a stubborn boy “who would hold on to his point and would not let go of it.”

She said she last saw Clifford about midday on Sunday, just before he left home, and then next saw him as he lay in an unconscious state just before he succumbed to his injuries.

The retired mathematics teacher said that she remembers her son as having a lot of ambition. She said he enjoyed plying his trade as a taxi driver, a love which he inherited from his father.

She said that his greatest love was his six-year-old daughter Destiny, a pupil at the Kingstown Preparatory School.

As with the loss of Garfield years before, Jean indicated that she holds no ill will to the young men who were driving when her sons were killed.

She hopes, however, that youths, as well as older persons would take greater stock of their lives, which could change in a split second.

“None of us are sure how much time we have left. There are a lot of us who are taking things for granted. This does not seem to be the year of the young people.”

Jean said that she plans to have a chat with her surviving children Dexter and Camille, (her eldest son Cauldric died about 10 years ago) with hopes to get them to see life in a different perspective.

“They must live their lives, but live with the understanding that there is a supreme being who is in charge of their lives.”

A funeral date is yet to be set by the family.

The area where Walker’s vehicle crashed is itself no stranger to tragedy. Some years ago, two men met their deaths in the area, when the motorcycle they were riding collided with a truck while they were travelling in the direction of Layou.