Farmer still grieves for wife and children

ON A peaceful Tuesday morning in 1999 a mother was walking her three children to school in Vega de Oropouche. Suddenly, a station wagon driven by Brian Browne came hurtling down the road and ploughed into the family killing Cecelia Bousignac and her three children. It was the beginning of a nightmare which still haunt the Bousignac family. Last week, the tragedy had its sequel in court when Browne was banned from driving for ten years. The day after the fatal accident, Cecelia’s husband, Cleveland, mustered all his strength and courage and visited the accident scene. The weak, distraught 52-year-old man stooped down at the spot where he lost almost his entire family — he was left only with his three-year-old daughter Catherine — and wept.

Bousignac, who collapsed after viewing the bodies of his wife Cecelia and three of their children —  Cleveland, Christopher and Crystal —  repeatedly pointed to the spot where they were killed and said the grief was too much for him to bear. “Jesus knows the sorrow I have. Lord be with me!” he cried. As he recalled the tragic accident that had robbed him of his loved ones, Bousignac said: “I never thought that when I left my wife and children home on Tuesday morning, it was the last time that I was seeing them.” Although he has been burdened with unbearable grief and pain since the accident, the gardener still had a forgiving heart. He forgave Browne, just 17 years old at the time of the accident. He had obtained a driver’s permit just four months before the tragedy.

Bousignac met Browne face to face the day after the accident but he could not bear to see him and quickly turned away. He later said: “When I saw him that morning I told him not to speak to me. While I am willing to forgive him, I will never forget that he caused my wife and my children to be snatched away from me.” Everyone seemed to understand the agony and confusion that Bousignac felt. News of the fatal accident shocked residents of Vega de Oropouche who claimed that for several years they had been clamouring for a pavement to be built. Edward Williams, Cecelia Bousignac’s father was overcome with grief. With tears in his eyes, he admitted to Newsday at the time of the horrible incident in 1999, that he lost a good daughter and exceptional grandchildren.

He said Cecelia was a devoted and loving woman who cared deeply for her husband and children. Her husband had expressed similar views. Williams said: “Cecelia was an exceptional woman who stood by his side even in the face of problems. Cecelia was the most loving woman, a lady of distinction.” On Friday, after a long wait for justice by the Bousignac family,  Justice Madame Alice Yorke Soo-Hon finally handed down a sentence. She told Browne she was sparing him from prison and resorting to a lesser punishment of taking away his driving privileges for ten years.

According to the judge, Browne’s punishment was “already self-inflicted.” “Every time you pass there (the scene of the accident) you will be reminded of what happened there.” Justice Soo-Hon told the 23-year-old father of one she had taken into consideration the fact that he was a young inexperienced driver at the time. She said driving for 30 miles without stopping was an “awesome responsibility” his parents should not have placed on his “young shoulders” and that “his parents ought to share responsibility.”

At the time of the accident, the confused, grief-stricken Bousignac was offered financial assistance by Browne’s relatives  but said he could not accept any cash since it could not compensate him for his loss. A trust fund had been set up for Catherine, the sole survivor of the crash, who flew out of her mother’s arms and ended up on the side of the road. Eyewitnesses said right after the accident, Browne, now the father of a ten-month-old baby, emerged from his vehicle stunned, and stared in disbelief at the carnage around him. On Friday, he shied away from the media as he left the Hall of Justice surrounded by an army of family members.