Irony: Shot tourists return as guests of Barbados – as another tourist is shot.

“I would not mind getting shot again to go through that! It really was a fantastic holiday and they did us so proud. It was quite overwhelming.

Everybody was so kind and so concerned, and so very, very happy that we had gone back, but for us, it did not hold any fear or trepidation.”

DISS Express: Couple shot on Barbados holiday return for “holiday of a lifetime”

March 3, 2014 Ipswisch Star: Philip and Ann Prior to return to Barbados a year after shooting

March 17, 2013 BFP: British tourists shot in broad daylight – Sunday afternoon walkabout in Bridgetown

Dear Barbados Free Press,

Is it the government’s policy that tourists get a two week all-expenses-paid free vacation if they are shot during a visit? Does this offer apply to the most recent victims, or just Mr. and Mrs Prior?

Should we advertise this as a feature of vacationing in Barbados? I can see the advertisement now:

“Our Bajan vacation guarantee: Should things go terribly wrong, we’ll give you a free holiday once you’ve recovered!”

Many will say that I am being unreasonable by bringing this up, but my point is not that we shouldn’t have looked after these good people (or any visitors having some trouble to any degree). My point is that something is going terribly wrong on this island and has been going terribly wrong for a number of years. And it is getting worse.

At the same time that Mr. and Mrs. Prior were here for their free ‘compensation holiday’, another tourist (this one from Canada) was fighting for his life after being shot…

On March 12, 2014, four gunmen burst into a rented beach apartment at Bath and shot Canadian tourist Johnathan Huddle in front of his wife and 11 month old daughter. Fortunately Mr. Huddle survived – according to various reports because he and his wife are both trained soldiers with tours in Afghanistan…

… from BFP’s One month after Canadian tourist shot – no excuse for 1 hour ambulance wait

And there have been many other incidents in the last year. Is it just me, or is it all going to hell?

name withheld by request