Seventy-two year-old Randolph Rodney was headed back to church to collect his forgotten bottle of lemonade on Friday night, when he was struck down by a speeding car on the Railway Embankment Road at Beterverwagting (BV), East Coast Demerara.
Rodney was pronounced dead on arrival at the Georgetown Public Hospital. The accident occurred around 9 pm while Rodney and his brother were returning to a church in their village to collect a bottle of lemonade that he forgot.
When Stabroek News visited his home yesterday, his brothers were hesitant to provide any information surrounding his death.
However, one of Rodney’s nieces, who asked not to be named, said her uncle was a sickly man and lived with his five brothers in their home at Triumph, East Coast Demerara.
She said Rodney, also known as “Uncle Packa” was invited to church that night by one of his brothers. She said her uncle was not a church-goer but he agreed.
They were halfway home from church when he turned around and she said a friend who was with the brothers, related that Rodney said he had forgotten his lemonade in the church pew and wanted to retrieve it.
She said the man told them the two brothers turned back and were about to cross the road when the accident occurred.
The man heard the impact and when he turned around he saw Rodney on the ground. She was told that the driver of the car had continued going, but then stopped and went to her uncle’s assistance.
According to her, the driver, who is the owner of a bakery in Buxton, told them he was overtaking another vehicle when the accident occurred.
The man said he thought he had hit an animal because the road was so dark.
Rodney’s niece said she could not disagree with the man because that part of the road was always dark and dangerous. She said villagers had asked several times for a street light to be placed there but to date this has not happened. She said a lot of robberies occurred at that section of the road.
“That’s just how my uncle was supposed to go… It is tragic how it happen but it was his time,” she said, adding that Rodney had been hospitalized for two months at the Georgetown Public Hospital after his kidneys failed.
She said he was discharged a few weeks ago and recently started to walk on his own. “He was recovering so well,” she said.
The driver is currently in custody at the BV Police Station assisting with investigations.
