Halifax : Correcting the item in Hill Post of Jan 4, regarding an overpass in memory of Freddie Wilson, it has been clarified that normally something is named after a person after he is no more, but this was not so in the case of the Freddie Wilson overpass, as Freddie very much goes to wave to the passing vehicles even today.
It was recalled that in 2007, supporters of Wilson thought of giving something back to him and with the twining of Highway 101, the idea to rename the overpass came to mind. On March 25, workers securely hung two signs on either side of this overpass, which clearly read “Freddie Wilson Overpass.”
Minister Ramona Jennex, of Service Nova Scotia and Municipal Relations, had then said that it isn’t normal practice to name overpasses but this was a special circumstance. “I contacted his family first and they supported the idea” she had said.
When asked on March 26, if he’d been up to see the sign, Freddie Wilson is reported to have said “Oh yeah … it is not too bad. Tell the people who put it up, thank you.”
Wilson lives a minute down the road from this overpass. He was born in Windsor on March 1, 1954, but complications at birth left him with challenges. However, this fails to keep him from walking, waving or enjoying the things he loves.
Freddie is reported to have first started waving to vehicles from this overpass when he returned from a training school in Truro at the age of 18.
The oldest of four brothers Freddie is said to have complications at birth which left him with brain damage. From age six to 18, he attended a Truro training school for mentally challenged children and moved back home in 1973.
A journalist with over 40 years of experience, Jagdish Bhatt was Editor, Hill Post (Uttarakhand).
Jagdish had worked with India’s leading English dailies, which include Times of India, Indian Express, Pioneer and several other reputed publications. A highly acclaimed journalist, he was a recipient of many awards
Jagdish Bhatt, aged 72, breathed his last on 28th August 2021 at his Dehradun residence.
