A Southampton family wrestled last night with the loss of a much loved son and father who died in a single vehicle road accident early yesterday.

Family and friends gathered at the Granaway Lane home of Nicholas (Nick) Anthony Derosa,47, a father of three.

According to a Police report, Mr. Derosa died at 2.35 a.m. when he lost control of his motorcycle as he attempted to make a right hand bend at the junction with Manse Road in Paget. Mr. Derosa collided with a stone wall and sustained serious head injuries.

A passing motorist discovered Mr. Derosa lying unconscious not long after the accident, with Police arriving at the scene at 2.15 a.m.

Mr. Derosa was then rushed by ambulance to King Edward Memorial Hospital but was pronounced dead there at 2.35 a.m.

“He was just such a good, carefree, and easy-going spirit,” said Melanie Derosa, who described herself as Mr. Derosa's little ‘big' sister.

“I was younger than him, but I was always the one looking out for Nick. He was just so happy go lucky, always wearing his cowboy boots with a jacket and tie,” said his sister, who smiled as she mentioned Mr. Derosa's trademark ponytail.

“It was impossible to stay angry with Nick, because he never got angry, he was just like that. He was just so well loved by everyone who met him. It was his super-duper magnetic personality that could just draw a person in.” she said.

“He was quite a fella,” she added. This was the sentiment which was echoed by the friends and family members who had gathered together, at Mr. Deroza's Southampton home, in the wake of the tragedy.

A draughtsman by trade, Mr. Derosa had been employed at Emtech Limited though he continued to do free lance work as well and had previously worked for the architectural firm OBM Limited.

Survived by his daughter Charmaine Rayner, son Nicholas DeRosa Jr.,stepson Gian Lynch, and girlfriend Julie Copella, Mr. Derosa's sister added that her brother “is going to be missed by his countless number of friends”.

Mr. Derosa's death brings the total fatalities on Bermuda's roads to seven.

At the end of January, 47-year-old British butcher Warren White was killed on Crow Lane in Pembroke after he lost control of his motorcycle.

In March, Troylisha Outerbridge, 19, died after a car packed with young people she was travelling in veered off the road at Shelly Bay Field on North Shore Road in the early hours.

Less than a week later, Chioke (Bruiser) Spencer, 22, was killed on Middle Road in Southampton after the car he was driving collided with a wall.

In June, Laurie Joseph, 29, was killed after crashing his motorcycle on Harrington Sound Road in Hamilton Parish.

Three weeks after Mr. Joseph's death, student Oshea Stowe, 15, of Pearman's Hill, Warwick, was killed in the horrific smash at 5 a.m. after the car in which he was travelling smashed into a wall and collided with a trailer parked on Ord Road.

On August 7, six-year-old Tyaisha Cox, of Sandys, was knocked down while walking on a pedestrian crossing on her way to summer school at Purvis Primary.