Father of seven dies in road accident at Ratho Mill

How does a mother tell her children that their father will never come home again?

Jhaniel Thomas of King’s Hill, Diamonds, is struggling to find the answer to that question as Francis Thomas, her husband and the father of her two children, was killed in a motor vehicular accident in Ratho Mill on Christmas Eve, December 24, at around 8.45 a.m.{{more}}

Since then, Jhaniel says that her two children, four-year-old Jenaye and Renae, two years old, have been asking for their father and think that he is still at work, as his job would sometimes take him to Mustique where he would occasionally remain for a few days.

Francis, who is originally from Calliaqua, and who turned 51 on December 17, crashed in Ratho Mill, a few feet away from the place where on Friday, November 27, Oswald DeFreitas and Jillian Nanton lost their lives.

According to reports, Francis, who was employed as a technician at Skyline Systems Inc, crashed his Nissan minivan PM845 and flew out of the vehicle, hitting his head on the edge of a drain.

“The kids are asking for him and I don’t know how to tell them,” said a bereaved Jhaniel, speaking from her King’s Hill home on Monday.

Jhaniel said that since she saw her husband dead at the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital (MCMH), she has not eaten, nor has she mustered the courage to tell her children that their father is dead and that they will never see him again.

The student nurse said that she first learned of her husband’s deadly crash at around 10 a.m. on December 24, when his supervisor came to her home. She said that while she had received a call a few minutes before from one of her husband’s older children, who had asked if it was true that his father had got into an accident, she did not have the details of what had happened.

“When I saw my husband’s supervisor at my house after 10 and he told me he had bad news, I was hoping that it wasn’t what my stepson had called and told me. When he told me that Francis hit his head, I’m a student nurse, so I know what could happen, so I started crying and I felt like I was going crazy,” recalled Jhaniel.

She said that she immediately told her aunt that she needed to go see her husband and when they arrived at the MCMH, many of Francis’ family members were there.

“I was thinking positive that everything is going to be okay, but when my aunt went in to see him, she said don’t go, he’s dead.”

Jhaniel said at that moment she felt terrible, but insisted on seeing her husband.

“He was already wrapped in sheets and they asked me if I want to see him and when I saw his face, it was terrible and I broke down and cried.”

The distraught woman said what is making matters worse is that up to press time no one has been able to tell her exactly how her husband crashed.

“…Up to now nobody ain’t tell me what happen. I reading it on the ‘Net and I know that everything on the ‘Net is not true, but that is the only thing I have to go on,” said Jhaniel, who will learn today, Tuesday, December 29, what injuries her husband sustained, as an autopsy will be carried out.

She noted also that what has made it worse for her is that somebody commented online that her husband’s death has resulted in the road having “one less reckless driver.”

“I am a mother and wife and now I have to struggle to tell my children and you there saying one less reckless driver gone. That was not nice.”

She said that her husband was an extremely happy man who could never say no to anyone.

“He was known as Mr Fix It. Anything he would do, even if he was tired, he would go to help someone; he just couldn’t tell people no. He was very skilful, handy and hard-working and there was nothing he wouldn’t do for me; he just wanted to please me at all times and he did everything to please me.

“He use to say to me that me and the kids come first. That is a very good man that has gone there and nobody can replace him; he was just one of a kind,” stressed Jhaniel, who said that she wished that she could have seen her husband before he died to tell him how much she loved him.

“I have to accept it and pull myself together. I still have not eaten, because I don’t have the feeling to eat. I just miss him, knowing he not going to be there to eat with me and sleep with me and be my companion and my best friend. We have been together six years and married for three years and when he died, he was coming home to me. I feel so sad,” said Jhaniel.

Francis, who has five other children: Francine, Danielle, Tiffany, Teroy and Tefisha, will be laid to rest on Saturday, after a service at the Calliaqua Anglican Church.

Francis’ death has added to the speculation about the area of road in Ratho Mill that people have long referred to as the ‘Haunted Corner’.

Police are investigating.(LC)