Fergie's Final Fight

Cancer couldn't beat Windell "Fergie" Fergusson but the coronavirus did. (Guest Ph

By Kimberley Cummins

When Windell Fergusson was diagnosed with prostate cancer in the early 2010s it was one of the most devastating pieces of news he had ever received.

This was compounded by the fact that he would have to deliver this information to his family. This was a difficult prospective but one, that one of his close friends, who asked not to be named, said Fergie, as Fergusson was affectionately called, took with stride. He fully embraced  it because he resolved to be a survivor and not a victim.

A couple years later in 2013, Fergie underwent an operation to remove the cancerous tissues that were found in his prostate region.

It was a success. 

He wasn’t 100 per cent back to his usual self but he was happy, his family was overjoyed by his improving health and he embarked on living life to the fullest. 

However, this reignited fire was prematurely extinguished on April 6 when the 74-year-old passed away. He became Barbados' second death from complications related to the novel coronavirus.

The coronavirus is devastating lives and homes. (Internet image)

His death came a day after another elderly Barbadian man also succumbed to the virus. Subsequently, [to date] another four persons on island have also dead from the deadly virus.

Family members, friends and colleagues of the retired police officer were in shock and very emotional by the news. Among them was a close friend, Christina Blackman who shared a father-daughter relationship with the man from her birth. She was heartbroken and sobbing as she recalled their relationship.

“Fergie never wanted you to worry". 

"He was always saying he is going to be okay. He never wanted to be a burden on anyone but he would do anything for anyone,” she said

Fergie had no travel history, but reportedly began to show symptoms of COVID-19 after he came into contact with an individual who had recently returned to the island and who has since also tested positive for the virus.

After his death, the Barbados Ministry of Health released a statement which reported that the Fergie tested positive for COVID-19 on March 20. He along with his girlfriend, were placed under quarantine at the Barbados Defence Force's field hospital at the Paragon base, Christ Church.

According to another relative, only the deceased was later transferred to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital's Enmore compound on April 2 before being moved to the isolation facility at Blackman-Gollop Primary School on April 5, the evening before he died.

Christina recounted being in daily contact with Fergie but said she was only able to see him last at the Paragon base when she took some items for him at his request.

“He was still up and walking around,” she recounted.

In what would be their final conversation, Christina noted that the deceased always maintained a positive outlook about his outcome.

“When I talked to him [Sunday] he was a little winded, like anybody on a ventilator. It wasn’t a long conversation but I told him we would talk later.

“When I woke up [Monday], I was shocked to learn that he was moved and to get the news [of his death]. [The deceased] wasn’t my biological father but he would refer to me as his daughter and I would refer to his as my father because he was a good man. From the time I was a little girl it was always uncle Fergie. He was the type of person who always said yes to anyone,” she said crying.

Fergie leaves to mourn a daughter and girlfriend of many years.


To date, Barbados has 76 confirmed cases of the virus. Forty-four people are in isolation, there were six deaths and 1,162 tests conducted. Whereas, on the worldwide front, there have been more than 2 million confirmed cases and almost 200,000 deaths.