Senior Reporter
annalisa.paul@guardian.co.tt
Struggling to accept the loss of their younger brother, who was described as a “best cook” and “life of the party” yesterday, the family of PC Triston Mc Williams have vowed to continue his legacy of loving freely and helping others unconditionally.
Speaking with Guardian Media at their home at Mahogony Park, Upper Erica Street, Laventille, his brothers recalled his natural genius for any exam without having to study.
Mc Williams, 26, died at hospital on Tuesday, following a vehicular accident along the Churchill-Roosevelt Highway, Barataria. He was last attached to the Inter-Agency Task Force in Aranguez.
A report said he had been driving east along the highway around 5.40 am, when he reportedly lost control of his Nissan Tiida motor car near the Vehicle Management Corporation of T&T (VMCOTT).
Investigating officers believe he hit a pile of stones at the side of the road, causing the car to become airborne and subsequently crashing into a T&TEC light pole.
Passers-by who stopped to render aid were unable to move Mc Williams, whose lower limbs were severed during the crash.
The Emergency Health Services (EHS) were summoned and later took the officer to the Port-of-Spain General Hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries around 6.39 am. Medical officials said he died as a result of massive haemorrhaging from lower limb amputation.
Triston’s eldest brother, PC Jamal Mc Williams, who is currently attached to the Central Police Station, said the former Trinity College graduate could be counted on for anything.
Known for being able to ace any exam without having to put in any effort at all, Jamal said, “From since he was young, he was always a bright person, you could say a scholar.
“He wouldn’t study for no exam or anything like that, he would just skim through the books the day before...a natural.”
Having spent the last six years in the T&T Police Service (TTPS), as he enlisted at the age of 19 and graduated at 20, Jamal, who himself was involved in a similar situation in 2012, said, “It was so unfortunate.”
Family members are uncertain if tiredness or a lack of sleep contributed to the crash.
Admitting it was a possibility Triston could have fallen asleep or dozed off behind the wheel, Jamal appealed to other drivers who might be tired and want to take a chance behind the wheel not to do so.
“If you have any relatives close by on your route home, you could stop and take a five or pull aside and relax in your vehicle. A little half-hour could take you a long way,” he said.
The Mc Williams family is headed by his father Sgt Christopher Mc Williams, a court prosecutor attached to the Court and Process Branch, Port-of-Spain; and includes Triston’s third brother, PC Shaquille Mc Williams, who is attached to the Guard and Emergency Branch (GEB).