Memorial event planned for motorcyclist killed on Sunday

0
458
Deceased, Shane Wellcome (Social media photo)
- Advertisement -

By Makeida Antonio

[email protected]

Plans have been set in motion to honour the life of a man who took his last ride during a motorcycle meet on Sunday.

Antigua and Barbuda recorded its fourth road fatality for 2022 when Shane ‘Yellowman’ Wellcome was pronounced dead on the scene after he collided with a lamppost in the Bethesda area.

He suffered multiple injuries including several broken bones.

Onlookers believe more than 20 motorcycles were driving around on the country’s roads, and many remarked that some riders were not wearing the proper protective gear such as a helmet.

President of 268 Bikers, Phil Skepple, who called the incident “tragic” and “unfortunate”, said that he has been in contact with family members in the hope of organising a candlelight vigil to remember the group’s longstanding member.

“I just spoke with his mom, the aunt, the girlfriend, I just spoke to everybody just now. We haven’t narrowed down what exactly we’re going to do, but I can tell you we are in the stage of planning something.

“A candlelight vigil – it’s a possibility – because I said it was tragic and he lost his life unexpectedly and the more we can do to keep that remembrance as in the good times, that’s what we want to hold on to,” Skepple told Observer yesterday.

Wellcome and Skepple shared a friendship which spanned over a decade, before the mutual interest in motorcycles arose.

Wellcome is being remembered across social media as a “generous”, “loving” man by many friends, former classmates, teachers and associates who are deeply saddened by the sudden loss.

According to one woman, “You were like a son to me, I still cannot believe this. I’m so heartbroken hearing this news. Can you imagine my son telling me that Shane passed? I’m asking my son who passed by me today, not realising that he is saying that you died. I’m still in shock, still looking at your house to see if this is real. You’re one in a million; I will miss u forever, my Shanie.”

Another friend apparently spent time with Wellcome just hours before his passing.

“If I knew today was gonna be the last I’d see you, I would’ve let you sit here for a little while longer …I’m so, so, so, so sorry this happened,” they wrote.

“My sweet past OCS student,” a former teacher wrote of him as she remembered Wellcome’s time spent at the Ottos Comprehensive School.

Another close friend posted a memory of the time spent together throughout Wellcome’s life.

“Boy, Shane you have [me] here – I can’t sleep. I remember teaching you how to paint a bicycle. Rest In Peace my friend. Tomorrow’s never promised,” they wrote.

The 268 Bikers Association, which has about 90 full-time members, shared condolences with Wellcome’s loved ones, writing online, “Condolences go out to the family and friends of the late Shane Yellowman. S.I.P. Only the Father knows.”

- Advertisement -