Legend Hall loses eldest son to sea

It was supposed to be a getaway from the cold, and a chance to relax. But it ended up being a trip turned tragic.

Former president of the West Indies Cricket Board, Reverend Wes Hall, was plunged into mourning Wednesday night, after his eldest son, John Woodroffe, drowned a few hours after returning to Barbados from Canada.

Hall had less than three hours before picked up his son and his family, from Grantley Adams International Airport off an Air Canada flight, and dropped him home in Cane Vale, Christ Church, on the first day of what was to be a brief holiday. The Woodroffe family lives in Pickering in Toronto, Canada.

According to reports, John, 42, decided to take an immediate sea bath at the popular Miami Beach near Oistins in Christ Church, but fell into difficulty before being pulled from the sea. His wife Francis and their 12-year-old son Chazz were all at the beach frolicking when the incident occurred.

Police public relations officer, Inspector Barry Hunte, informed the Weekend Nation that Woodroffe was pulled from the water, apparently unconscious, around 5:30 pm. A life-guard on duty at the beach started cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in an effort to get him breathing again, and an ambulance was also summoned to the area, which eventually transported him to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

According to the inspector, efforts at the QEH to revive Woodroofe also failed, and he was pronounced dead around 6:30 p.m. - a mere three hours after he had stepped off his flight. "I'm trying to be strong here, but it is difficult," Hall said yesterday. "I have to deal with a wife and a son who are both distraught with grief from the shock of what happened."