“Andre Kevin Simon where are you my brother, I have so much to tell you, I want to tell you how intense these past 13 months have been. How we miss you and how much we love you”.
The words of Dwayne Simon who stood before a packed church at the St Johns Pentecostal House of Restoration to Eulogize the national cyclist at his homegoing ceremony Monday afternoon.
The Antigua cyclist died in May at a hospital over a year after he was critically injured when he and three others were doing a practice ride on the Sir George H Walter Highway.
The others were treated and discharged from the hospital but the 35-year-old father of one had to be flown out for specialist care.
Dwayne told the audience that his brother was a very disciplined individual noting that even though their rooms were side by side, Andrew would rise very early and quietly leave for an early morning ride which would usually take 2 to 3 hours.
“He would place his phone in a Ziplock bag, because he did not want to get it wet, and placed it in the back pouch of his cycling uniform. But he did not like how the keys fell on his back so he would always leave his keys.
“When it is time for him to get back home, he would come to my window and knock for me to open it for him. He did that so much that it became a habit so I have been with Andre for pretty much all my life and I think a part of me is still waiting for him to come home and knock.”
He recalled Andre being very close to his father and wanting to be everywhere he went.
It was also his father who introduced him to sports beginning with track and field. His father’s death at the age of 10 years was also a very devastating blow to him.
Dwayne also recalled Andre being business savvy devising different strategies to make money starting at the Antigua Grammar School and while he had resources, he did not squander them.
“Those experiences did something for him, it made us recognize that as we get older, we want to work so hard that we never had to get back to the state where we had very little. That drove Andre,” Simon said.
According to Simon he and his younger siblings were taught by their mother to love each other and work together no matter the circumstances and that’s the glue that kept them together over the years.
He also spoke about Andre’s infectious smile and love for people from all circles. He described him as the life of the party while Dwyane was more of the “party pooper”.
“Andre was also very close to family. Beatrice was also his business party and sometimes more of a surrogate mother always cheering him on,”
Aside from his family, business acumen, sportsmanship, and other accolades, Dwayne asserted that his brother was an exceptional father who loved his only child dearly.
Dwayne also shared that God gave Andre enough time after the accident to be with his family instead of allowing him to die on the spot of the accident.
Simon was also remembered in tribute and song by several people including the Antigua and Barbuda Meteorologic Office where he worked.
“Be happy and don’t despair he is in good hands waiting for the day the Lord calls us to come home. As we look at the sky in great majesty remember him, as we look in awe and watch other cyclists on the road remember him”, a team from the met office shared. This was followed by a song On Christ I Stand.
President of the National Cycling Association St Clair Williams, who spoke on the entire cycling fraternity, said he met Andre several years ago when he was at the top of his game as a national champion breaking time trials and representing Antigua.
He explained Simon, in his later years, took a sabbatical from cycling to further his education and upon his return started a new cycling club recruiting young people into the sport.
“As a fraternity, he will be well missed and I think we should take his work ethic, the way he goes about doing things in the sport, and make it an example for the young ones to follow and I think if we do that cycling will continue on a prosperous path,” Williams said.
It is a damn shame what stance the government took with this whole situation. If the rumors are indeed true, the government needs to me ashamed of it’s stance and all involved should take responsibility and own up to their screw up!!!