Brenton Bristol tragically passed away on November 20th in a fatal car accident on Friars Hill Road
According to Stabroek News
The father of a Guyanese man who died in a car accident in Antigua last month is appealing for urgent help from authorities as he remains stranded on the island awaiting an autopsy that has been stalled for more than two weeks.
According to a report published by Stabroek News, Brian Bristol travelled to Antigua on November 24—four days after his 40-year-old son, Brenton Anthony Bristol, was killed in a crash on Friars Hill Road. However, despite an inquest being completed last Monday, the autopsy required for the body to be released has not yet been conducted.
Bristol told the newspaper he has received no formal updates from officials and expressed deep frustration and emotional fatigue as he waits for clarity.
“My son died in an accident on the 20th and I travelled here on the 24th. I have been here from then and there has been no formal word from authorities,” he said. “We were told that an x-ray machine that is supposed to do an x-ray of the body before the autopsy could be done isn’t working. No one has said when it will be repaired.”
Under Antigua and Barbuda’s procedures, an x-ray of the remains must be completed before an autopsy can be performed. Bristol said he has asked whether the scan could be done at a private facility, and if so, at what cost, but has received no response.
“I just want to know what the process will be,” he told Stabroek News. “I have to return to work and cannot abuse the kindness shown to me by Sandals and the Antiguan people.”
Brenton Bristol, a long-time resident of Antigua who worked at Sandals, died on November 20 after the vehicle he was travelling in collided with a horse. The driver, a close friend of the deceased for nearly two decades, survived but suffered head injuries. The horse also died at the scene.
The senior Bristol, a former Guyana Defence Force officer now living in the United States, said he feels “helpless” due to the lack of information being provided.
“All rests on the autopsy being completed because to get the death certificate to enable the body to leave the island depends on that,” he explained. “I have to be here when the autopsy is going to be done because a family member has to be present, and we have none here in Antigua.”
He stressed that while local police officers have offered some communication, there has still been no definitive timeline.
“We can’t be sitting down waiting, knowing we have to get back to work, to get other things done. Please, just give us something to work with,” he pleaded.
Despite the ongoing difficulties, Bristol expressed heartfelt gratitude to the management and staff of Sandals Antigua, along with Guyanese and Antiguans who have supported him during his stay.
“They went above and beyond,” he said. “These are people that do not know me but have just been constant.”
Bristol met over the weekend with Antigua and Barbuda’s Honorary Consul for Guyana, Robert Edwin Reis, who told the newspaper that he would investigate the matter.
“We just want to put some form of closure to this,” Bristol told Stabroek News. “Would this same silence and blackout be meted out if he was a United States, British or European citizen? He is like one of your own. We in Caricom have to do better than this.”
I can feel the man frustration. I think the police force need a special branch just to deal with communicating with family members in those sort of situations.
Everybody cannot be lying on the authorities over their lack of communication
A heartbreaking situation. When a family is already grieving, delays like this only deepen the pain. Some timely support and clearer communication could go a long way right now.
As a Guyanese living and working here, this hit me hard. Brenton was a brother to all of us in the diaspora. If his father is begging for information and can’t get any, it makes all of us feel uneasy. It shouldn’t take weeks just to get an autopsy done. Hope he gets help the man say he has to return to work.
When Mr. Bristol asks whether the response would have been the same if the deceased were from the US, UK, or Europe, he is raising a painful but valid question. CARICOM citizens should not feel second-class in neighbouring territories. Our systems need to reflect the spirit of regional unity.
Welcome to Antigua. That xray machine have been broken since me granny born and she in Heaven now. Shame shame shame.
If the autopsy is held up, at least communicate clearly with the family. Silence is cruel.
The silence is what bothers me. But whats new tho. THis is the caribbean where nobody talll care. If the machine is broken, say so. If there is a backlog, say so. People can understand delays, but they cannot understand being ignored. Communication is everything in moments like this. And tahdah there is none
What if this was my child? The pain of losing a son is already unbearable, but to then be kept waiting with no answers… that is torture. Someone needs to step in and fix this. That machine should not be down for so long
That one dere rought. To see his father stranded like this, wandering from office to office with no guidance, is painful for all of us.
To delay a body’s release for weeks due solely to administrative failure is unjust and deeply disrespectful. This is not only a logistical error it is a violation of the family’s right to closure. The government must treat this as urgent