Husband Dies, Teacher Injured in Motorcycle Collision

A tragic accident in Bella Vista Village on Wednesday night left a father of four dead and a teacher injured. TV repairman Jose Samuel Hoppington was riding his red Skygo motorcycle into Bella Vista from Independence when he crossed into the opposite lane. This led to a head-on collision with another motorcycle driven by a schoolteacher, right in front of the Toledo Teachers’ Credit Union at the village entrance. News Five’s Marion Ali spoke with Hoppington’s wife, who now faces the daunting task of caring for their four sons alone. She shared that her husband had gone out to collect payment for a job earlier that day. Although he received the money, his wallet was found empty after the crash. Here’s that report.

 

Gritchin Hoppington, Wife of Deceased

“I ask God I seh why? It’s not just to my husband this happen. I get his wallet empty. Yesterday some PC come and pick up dehn TV and paid him. He had in his hand around eight hundred dollars. That was earlier in the day. And they returned me his wallet – I can’t judge anyone because I nuh see. I just can’t believe how people could have dehn kinda heart because I have four pikni.”

 

Marion Ali, Reporting

Tonight, Gritchin Hoppington is grappling with many questions: what caused the tragic accident that took her husband’s life, what happened to the money he had in his wallet, and how she’ll manage to move forward and care for their four sons without him. She vividly recalls the last moments she saw her husband before he left home around nine on Tuesday night to collect payment for a job.

 

Gritchin Hoppington

“Yesterday evening he tell me “Babe I gwein get wa money weh I have to collect in Big Creek. So he mi di tell mi goh wid he but I tell he I have to mek the tamales for today. Soh he tell mi well okay, I weh goh. When I hear the news, I neva believe it. I can’t believe it. I mi di think da just wa accident and he deh da the hospital. When I gone da the place, I couldn’t believe it. What I feel, lotta people love him and appreciate him because he was a hard-working man.”

 

Marion Ali

“Have you asked the police, you know, maybe somebody moved the money out of the wallet before they got on the scene, if they have they investigated that aspect of it?”

 

Gritchin Hoppington

“I asked the police and they said they had to change shift soh I didn’t talk to any police so I cannot tell you. I have faith in God and I trust he’’s going to give me the strength weh I need and I know I have to fight it out and I have to mek it. I nuh have no choice.”

The grieving wife recalls how she and her husband used to hold Bible lessons every Sunday, feeding the seventy-five children who attended. That was before they returned to their home country, Nicaragua, a couple of years ago. Just hours before his death, he expressed his desire to resume this cherished vocation. She now feels determined to carry on this mission in his honor.

 

Gritchin Hoppington

“He told me yesterday, he seh “Babes God di bless mi wid wa lee money soh I wa buy a lot of things fi start again with the children’s ministry, “Alpha and Omega.” I seh “that’s good, I glad to hear that.” I didn’t wait for this bad news. And wi mi used to have special needs children and we mi used to deal with different children, like Spanish, Creole, Maya, everybody is welcome for us.”

 

Marion Ali

“Are you going to continue with that mission you think?”

 

Gritchin Hoppington

“Yes ma’am. I will do that.”

 

The teacher, Xiomara Molina, who was riding the other motorcycle involved in the crash, is currently at KHMH with injuries to her forehead, left leg, and left arm. Meanwhile, the police are investigating the accident. Marion Ali for News Five.