Richard McKenzie

Shelly-Ann Thompson, Freelance Writer

A family is mourning the loss of their beloved relative after he died in hospital on Sunday from injuries he sustained inside a mechanical concrete mixer at Newport West in Kingston.

Dead is Richard McKenzie, a 27-year-old construction worker of Majesty Gardens, Kingston 11.

Reports from the Constabulary Communication Network (CCN) are that about 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, McKenzie was cleaning the inside of the concrete mixer when it was switched on.

McKenzie was severely injured by the blades and was taken to the Kingston Public Hospital where he was admitted in serious condition. He later died.

A good man lost

McKenzie, for more than a year, was a labourer at Pihlf, the company which is constructing the expansion of the Kingston Wharf.

Relatives of McKenzie said that they have lost a "good man" who tried to be his best. A death like this, they said, should not have happened to their beloved 'Richie', as he is called by his family and peers.

"His entire body from his waist down was crushed and twisted," said his aunt, Eva McKenzie, who reared him. "His legs, especially the left one, looked like a crushed cane as his bones were pushed out." The relatives also said that McKenzie's sexual organ was damaged.

Parents distraught

His father, Anthony McKenzie, has since been overtaken with sadness. "He was a good guy, never get in any trouble. Richie don't even talk more than so," said Mr. McKenzie.

His mother, Veronica Johnson, is also distraught about losing her only child whom she had not seen in nine months. "The last time I spoke to him, about three weeks ago, I was asking him if he couldn't come and look for me," said Miss Johnson, who lives in another community.

The Newport West police have ruled the incident as an accident.