A Sad Discovery

It's midday here and the day didn't start very well. Unfortunately it didn't start at all for someone though. James and I decided to walk up to the gym, which entails a 20-minute walk across the beach (when the tide is out; if it's in, it separates our bay from St Brelade's Bay, so you have to follow the longer, hillier, coastal path) and then a short but very steep 10-minute traipse through a park.

We were coming up the steps that follow a small stream when James spotted a bundle of clothes; he made a joke about a body but almost immediately told me to stop walking. I noticed a shoe, attached to the clothes. James called the police right away and he stayed with the body (we saw right away that he wasn't alive) while I had to go and wait for the police on the road. More than anything it was just incredibly sad. My uneducated guess is that this man, who I think may have been around 60, was walking up the path, possibly last night, and something happened to cause him to fall in to the stream. His head was above water (it's very shallow) but I suppose the water level may have changed overnight.

We walked the same path yesterday afternoon so we know he wasn't there then. He had a little bit of blood on his forehead but otherwise looked as if he had lay down for a sleep really. He was on his side, with his feet pointing downhill, which is why I'm guessing he was walking uphill.

We waited with the police while they checked officially that he was dead. Then they took our details and we were able to leave. Although it was a bit of a shock it just makes me feel so sad for this guy's family, who must have been worried sick when he didn't come home. And if he didn't have a family then it's equally sad that he died all alone. He was wearing some kind of a uniform, so it's possible that he was going to work this morning when something happened.

Maybe if you have a quiet moment today you can send up a little prayer for this man's family and friends. A very sad way to die, I think.