BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – A male resident of Greenlands died Saturday (Apr. 7) by drowning while swimming in the Caribbean Sea in the vicinity of Bird Rock Beach.
Dead is 86-year-old taxi driver Neville Simmonds of Fern Street, Greenlands, Basseterre, who it is said had encountered difficulties while swimming in the sea.
Speaking with one of his sons, Joe Simmonds, this media house was told that the previous article which named the pool at Bird Rock Hotel as the place where he drowned was incorrect and he gave a detailed account of what caused his father’s demise.
Joe confirmed that his father was at the beach with a niece who was on the shore while the deceased was floating in the Caribbean Sea.
“My father’s phone rank and his niece, who was on the shore, picked it up and tried to get his attention but she observed that things didn’t seem normal and she called out for help. An individual, who was within the vicinity, immediately responded and brought him ashore.
“The individual told my father’s niece that she needed to get help, after which they attempted to resuscitate him but they were unsuccessful,” Joe said.
Simmonds was pronounced dead at the scene by the District Medical Officer.
Joe told SKNVibes that no one at the time knew what precisely happened to have caused his father’s death, but a post mortem performed today (Apr. 10) on his body confirmed that he died by drowning.
He noted that the pathologist said there was no physical damage to the body or any sign of struggle.
“The pathologist said that no physiological event had triggered my father’s death and all of his organs were in excellent condition. He also said that my father was in perfect health and his organs were like those of a teenager.”
He further noted that when the pathologist went into his father’s stomach he found that it was “very, very full”.
Joe explained that his father regularly went to the beach to exercise; firstly by floating on his back and then finish his routine with backstrokes.
“I would like to assume that because of his stomach being filled with food and he floating in the sea, he must have fallen asleep. This is only an assumption which is based on the pathologist’s report that there were no signs of any struggle,” he said.
Simmonds is the second person to have died by drowning in the twin-island Federation for the year.
On the evening of Sunday (Apr. 1), Tasif Nisbett of Crab Tree, Cayon died by drowning in Nevis.
This media house learned that the 28-year-old postman and part-time Disc Jockey was on a catamaran cruise from St. Kitts to Nevis and it was suggested that he fell into the sea.
Other reports suggested that he was aboard a jet ski with another individual when he fell off and may have hurt himself.
Police PRO Sergeant Stephen Hector however stated in a press release that Nisbett drowned whilst in the process of leaving the catamaran to go ashore at Pinney’s Beach on Nevis.
He was pronounced dead at 6:00 p.m. by Dr. Martinez at the Alexandra Hospital.
