Kent Gibbons, the cricket umpire, is showing encouraging signs of recovery.

Gibbons, a West Indies Cricket Umpires Association certified umpire, suffered serious head injuries after falling from a wall to the pavement at his home in Hamilton Parish last weekend.

Gibbons, 49, was treated by EMTs at the scene of last Saturday’s accident before being admitted to the Intensive Care Unit at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital and eventually airlifted overseas for further medical treatment.

“Kent has made good progress,” a family member said yesterday. “He is talking and as far I know has also been walking about, which is very encouraging.”

Gibbons obtained a West Indies Cricket Umpires Association badge in 2008 after successfully completing oral and practical exams.

Last year the son of late Bailey’s Bay and St George’s Cup Match scorer, Fred Gibbons, made sporting history after being chosen to officiate at the ICC World Cricket League Division 3 Tournament on local soil along with Bermuda Cricket Umpires Association colleagues Roger Dill, Stephen Douglas and Richard Austin.

It was the first time that four umpires from the same country have been involved simultaneously in the tournament’s history.

The Bermuda Cricket Umpires Association released the following statement yesterday: “The officers and members of the Bermuda Cricket Umpires Association wish Kent a speedy and full recovery.”