Cab driver involved in tragic accident shares his grief

The cab driver who was involved in a fatal collision with a toddler has spoken of his grief and trauma following the accident.

Nosaj Stovell, age 21 months, died after the incident in a driveway on Wyndham Hill, Hamilton Parish, on September 25.

His funeral service takes place today at the New Testament Church of God, Hamilton, followed by internment at St John’s Cemetery, Pembroke.

“I would like to send flowers to the funeral,” taxi driver Vaughn Simons told us.

Tears

“His family have my heartfelt condolences. Although I know it’s not my fault and the family realizes it’s not my fault, I still feel very sorry for them. 

“It’s very difficult. It was an accident, but to lose a child so young… ”

Mr Simons, 50, repeatedly broke down in tears yesterday as he recalled the events of September 25.

He said he wanted to “reach out” to Nosaj’s parents, d’Chelle Allen and Jason Stovell.

“I am grieving with the family. I am worried about them and how they’re doing… I would like to reach out to them…

“But I am sure emotions are going to run high, and I may be too
devastated to talk to anyone.”

Mr Simons picked up Nosaj, his aunt and another woman from Bailey’s Bay Cricket Club and dropped them off at an apartment building on Wyndham Hill when the accident happened.

“It was a short drive, but he was just a happy-go lucky little boy with his aunt,” Mr Simons told us.

“When I put the stroller down at the side of the driveway, he had a bottle of Ocean Spray juice in his stroller and I said, ‘What you got there buddy? You got your juice?

‘He started repeating to me, ‘Juice’. He seemed like a happy little boy and a person who was very sociable.

“It makes me feel that, even at that young age, there’s a lot of ways in which he has touched people’s lives.

“He even touched my life in a short way, just before the accident, so I think this just makes it even harder [to deal with].”

Mr Simons has been a taxi driver for 18 years without incident, except for an accident last year.

As he tries to come to terms with the tragedy, he is receiving the support of family, friends, and his co-workers at the Department of Marine and Ports, where he works on ferries.

“I’ve got a big support group of family and friends. Friends have dropped by or called, and everyone on the job is supportive,” he said. “It’s definitely helping me to get through this. 

“I’ve also spoken to a counsellor at EAP (Employee Assistance Programme).

“After the accident I didn’t come back into work until Tuesday — I was really messed up. 

“I’m still very upset. The only reason I came back to work was that if I stay at home, I keep dwelling on it. So I have to keep myself occupied.

“Sometimes I think, ‘What if I had done things differently? But everyone is reassuring me it was an accident.”

Mr Simons is married and has a teenage daughter and a 28-year-old step-daughter.

Yesterday was his daughter’s 19th birthday.

He said: “I can’t say I know what the [Nosaj’s] family is going through but I am trying to put myself in their shoes, knowing I have a child and how I would feel.

“Even if something was to happen to my daughter now at 19, the devastation that would cause me… I will never know what the family feels, but I can only imagine. It’s just tragic.

“I would also like to donate some money to the garden at the boy’s school.”

In Wednesday’s Bermuda Sun we reported that staff at Nosaj’s nursery school, Kiddie Academy, are to name their new garden in his memory.

The Bermuda Police Service are still investigating the incident but yesterday were due to release the taxi back to its owner.

Mr Simons said: “Maybe next week I will get back in the taxi. That may help with the healing process, but I’m still really shaken up, so will have to take things one day at a time.

“If I don’t feel comfortable the first time I get back in, I’m not going to drive it. I know it will take a long time to get over this.”

Tomorrow [Saturday] is the 10th anniversary of Mr Simons’ mother’s death, which has compounded his grief.

“I always get emotional on my mom’s death and, with having to deal with Nosaj’s funeral the day before, it makes everything so much worse,” he said.

“People have been praying for me, and I’ve been praying for the family. I’m asking the Father to help me get through this, and the family as well.”