Motorcyclist dies minutes from home

Being awakened from her sleep in the wee hours of Friday, December 28, 2007, to see her son Jerry “Ginger” Cyrus lying dead on the Diamond Dairy stretch of road must have left Rosalind Cyrus with the feeling that she was still dreaming.

Rosalind was awakened by a friend at about 3:05 a.m., to face a mother’s worst nightmare. {{more}}

Jerry, a chauffeur at the E.T Joshua Airport Meteorological Office, was traveling on his motorcycle, P 7282, from Biabou, when he lost control of the vehicle and collided with a retaining wall along the Diamond public road, just a short distance from his Enhams home.

A police report said that the 35-year-old man sustained injuries to his head and about his body and reportedly died on the spot.

“I was not expecting to see a dead body,” Rosalind lamented, recounting that all she was told is that Jerry had gotten into an accident.

“Jerry had his way, but he was a nice guy,” said Rosalind, adding, “He was a hardworking young man”.

“If you rub him the wrong way he would let you have it, but he had always put himself out of the way to help somebody,” said the grieving mother.

“He was a young man who loved life, nice time and loved his girls,” said Rosalind, giving a frank description of her son’s character.

She noted that her first born always cared about her welfare.

“He would always ask if I’m not tired working and would always suggest that I get some rest,” said Rosalind.

“One thing I can remember him saying, “All my life three of us struggling (Jerry, Rosalind and his brother Sigmund Cyrus) but better days are coming,” Rosalind recalled, claiming that he’s no longer around to materialize that dream.

Sigmund described his only sibling as a positive individual.

“Ginger was a positive man. If he has something to tell you he will put it over to you in a sometimes forceful way but always positive,” said Sigmund, adding that Jerry always had a word of encouragement for his friends.

Sigmund’s wife, Jacinta Cyrus, reflecting on the life of her brother-in-law, said Jerry was free spirited and outgoing.

She noted with a smile that on her wedding day, when Jerry came with her chauffeur to pick her up, she was crying, but she remembered him cheering her up and telling her ‘everything will be alright’. Jacinta also shared fond memories of Jerry taking his three-year-old nephew for ride on the motorcycle around the Enhams community.

Jerry was a former student of the Stubbs Primary School and Intermediate High School. His funeral will take place at the Enhams Nazarene Church on Sunday, January 6, 2008, followed by his burial at the Brighton Cemetery.