Mark Gerrish

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Mark Gerrish
Saturday, February 25, 2006
Age: 33

Location:
Outside of the Royal United Hospital on Combe Park Road
Bath
United Kingdom

From Flickr

Mark, who was 33, was riding his bike when he was hit from behind by a
car outside of the Hospital, at 2.30 pm on 25th February 2006. Staff
from the nearby Accident and Emergency Department quickly came to his
aid but he had suffered severe injuries and died after surgery later
that afternoon.

Mark was a nurse at the hospital. Originally from Weymouth, he came to
Bath to study at Bath Spa University College but decided to take up
nursing after his mother Maureen died from cancer.

Just three days before his death he had proposed to his girlfriend,
Catarina, who was also a nurse. He was on his way to buy her an
engagement ring.

Remembering Mark, one of his friends remarked in an on-line memorial
that he was “intelligent, kind-hearted, creative and funny”.

A ‘Ghost Bike’ is a white-painted bicycle set up as a roadside
memorial in a place where a cyclist has been killed or severely
injured (usually as a result of them being hit by a vehicle). As far
as I know, this is the first Ghost Bike memorial to be installed in
Bath.

Apart from acting as a memorial, Ghost Bikes also serve to highlight
the tragic consequences of such incidents and the impact that they
have on family, friends and all those affected. Hopefully it will
also draw attention to the need for everyone to share the roads with
care, consideration and compassion for those around them.

It is thought that the first ‘Ghost Bike’ originally appeared in the
United States around ten years ago but the idea has since spread
around the globe.

The people who installed the memorial wish to remain anonymous – they
are cyclists who live locally and cycle past the hospital regularly.
They did not know Mark but his death touched thems. When we learnt of
the existence of ‘Ghost Bikes’ we thought it would be appropriate to
place one as a memorial to Mark.

Mark’s elder brother, Simon, lived in London at the time of his death.
His father, Reverend David, lived in Weymouth. They have not been able
to contact them or his then fiancée, Catarina. They are sure that they
will never forget their loss and are truly sorry if placing the
memorial reminds them of this unnecessarily, but hope that they
support the idea.

In deciding to install it they of course faced another dilemma: it is
a memorial to Mark but they hope it will also remind everyone who sees
it to share the roads with care and thought for others. The last thing
they would want to do however is to somehow highlight cycling as
‘dangerous’ or to discourage anyone from cycling.

To quote them "We ride bikes to get to work, to keep fit, to
challenge ourselves, for competition, to enjoy breathing in the air,
to get closer to nature, to feel the rain on our faces and to take in
the sunshine; to travel, to go shopping, to escape the world, to stay
sane, to savour the physical and emotional fellowship of riding and
laughing together and with friends and family.

For so many reasons we love riding bikes. We recognise that not
everyone can ride a bike, not everyone wants to ride a bike, and that
some try and not enjoy it, but many do, and many others might if the
roads were safer and the world would undoubtedly be a better place for
it. "

Finally, they add that neither did they want to bring attention
toward, or focus on, the driver who caused Mark’s death. At the time,
he drove off leaving Mark in the road. He also later tried to blame
Mark for the collision, but witnesses and the police demonstrated that
the driver was the only one to blame; the collision could have been
avoided if only he had been driving carefully, waited a couple of
seconds and overtaken safely. He was sent to prison for four months
and banned from driving for 18 months after pleading guilty to driving
without due care and attention, failing to stop, and failing to report
an accident. Since being released from prison he has also been
convicted of committing other offences.

Again to quote "Apportioning blame and noting his punishment does
not undo what happened, but we must say how sad we think it is that he
acted so callously at the time and later, and also how sad it is that
as at no time has he shown any public remorse. Perhaps if he becomes
aware of the Ghost Bike he might."

from the Bath Chronicle

A bike painted entirely white has been placed at the spot in Bath where a cyclist was killed in an incident six years ago.

The memorial is Bath’s first ghost bike, and has been
erected by an anonymous group of cyclists in memory of 33-year-old Mark
Gerrish.

Nurse Mr Gerrish was killed when his bike was hit by a car
as he cycled along Combe Park to get to the Royal United Hospital, where
both he and his fiancee worked, before taking her to buy an engagement
ring.

The first ghost bike appeared in the USA around ten years
ago, as a roadside memorial to remember a cyclist who had been killed or
badly injured.

In an email to the Chronicle, the group behind the Bath
memorial said: “Apart from acting as a memorial, ghost bikes also serve
to highlight the tragic consequences of such incidents and the impact
that they have on family, friends and all those affected. We hope that
it will also draw attention to the need for everyone to share the roads
with care, consideration and compassion for those around them.

“We wish to remain anonymous – we are cyclists who live
locally and cycle past the hospital regularly. We did not know Mark but
his death touched us. When we learnt of the existence of ghost bikes, we
thought it would be appropriate to place one as a memorial to Mark.”

The group added: “The last thing we would want to do
however is to somehow highlight cycling as ‘dangerous’ or to discourage
anyone from cycling. For so many reasons we love riding bikes. We
recognise that not everyone can ride a bike, not everyone wants to ride a
bike, and that some try and not enjoy it, but many do, and many others
might if the roads were safer and the world would undoubtedly be a
better place for it.”

The bike used was beyond repair, and all usable parts were removed for recycling through a Julian House bike project.

Bath and North East Somerset Council cabinet member for
transport Councillor Roger Symonds (Lib Dem, Combe Down), said he had
asked highways officials to ensure the memorial was not removed by
mistake.

The keen cyclist said: “I remember this crash.  It is a
fitting memorial for Mark and it will raise awareness of the dangers on
our roads to people on bikes.”

The driver of the car which hit Mr Gerrish’s bike was jailed for four months for driving without due care and attention.

Nigel Williams of the action group CycleBath said such memorials had a role to play in changing drivers’ behaviour.

“It helps to illustrate the fact that someone on a bike is a
human being. For every motorist who doesn’t give a cyclist enough
space, they risk a life of a real person with real friends and family.
Our message is give cyclists respect, and give them space.”

Mr Williams said that overall cycling remained an
overwhelmingly positive activity - with the benefits in terms of
improved health and longevity outweighing accident risks.

Read more: http://legacy.thisisbath.co.uk/Ghost-bike-memorial-Bath-cyclist-Mark-Gerrish/story-16543429-detail/story.html#ixzz2mGiZGzFW