Neville the Patty Man

For those of you who know Neville, if you have been to Negril recently, you may have noticed he's been MIA. For those who don't know him, he is a beach institution for decades who makes & delivers delicious patties to beach goers. I rely on him for my lunch almost daily.

He called me yesterday to fill me in on what has been going on. I've been so busy the past 2 months since I returned from Jamaica w/ the paving of my condo community (I'm on the BOD, treasurer) & weeks of home renovations, etc., I hadn't had time to call him. Listening to him really drove home how precious life is.

He/his family has been through a series of medical issues. Nutshell version - BIL hospitalized & later passed from brain cancer, then his youngest son was severely injured in a work accident. He lost both his R hand & R foot due to electrical burns. While helping his family through this, Neville himself suffered severe injuries in a motor vehicle accident.

In mid August he was the last remaining passenger in a taxi returning home to Grange Hill after a day of working on the beach. A truck coming from the opposite direction tried to pass another car & miscalculated, striking the taxi Neville was in head on. He initially looked so bad he was not expected to survive & people were calling him "the dead man" when he was taken to the hosptial. Internal injuries, head injury, bleeding from his nose & mouth, foot injured, broken arm. Miraculously, he did pull through & is now home from the hospital although he is unable to work. He is still going for treatment & tests/scans/X-rays to assess his healing. He cannot do any lifting & is working on strengthening & healing his arm. He expects to return to making & selling patties on the beach in November. He wanted me to let his many Negril visitor friends know what happened & why he hasn't been around. Feel free to PM me if you want more info.

Sending prayers for strength and healing!

Wow he has been through alot, wishing him a speedy recovery and no more bad things. Hope he continues to heal and makes it back to the beach in November.

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This is Neville in July. After all he's been through, especially the head injury, he sounds like his usual self. He is so blessed to have survived such a terrible accident. I told him it was not his time to go.

get well soon, soon come

Obvously, Jah was watching over him. Prayers sent to him and all of his family. Thanks for updating us...for he is truly a Negril favorite with everyone! The beach would never be the same without Neville.

Prayers for such a strong man to have gone thru so much and still looking forward to returning to the beach in November.

he is a example of the "Jamaican Hard Worker"........always working, going to work, or home........
he is a very nice man.......for those of you who havent seen this report I made some years ago, this will help you to know the "Mon"..........


2006......
On this our 26th trip to our beloved Island, we decided to write about some of the faces we saw on our trip...some you will know, possibly some you wont....hope you enjoy the background behind the faces.........


"BEEF-VEGTABLE-CHICKEN-COCO BREAD"

Those are the choices you will have to make each day, while soaking the Sun up on the Beach of Negril........

"PATTY MAN" is what he is normaly called.....His real name is Neville Stewart, a man small in stature, but not in dreams or his work ethic's.

He is a widower of two years from this writing (2006), and a father of 6 children, lives in Grange Hall and leaves his bike near the beach area that he works each day, rarely taking a day off.

His day on average starts about 5AM with the cooking and prepareing of his days worth of patty's. A patty is a pastry shell filled with the above choices, and then deep fried to a golden brown ( like a Brown Taco) only soft and warm...very light and flaky crust. The filling varies with the choices, as does the prices...with the CoCo Bread being the cheapest........ Normally we are talking 'bout 1 US Buck to a Buck and a Half a piece.......BIG Discounts for volume..LOL

All the fillings are GREAT, with all haveing that "certain" Jamaican "hot-ness" to the end of your tonuge, which is washed away nicely with Red Stripe.............

Good sales days for Neville are 70 patties a day (Spring Breakers)
to a average of 35-45 per day, during these slow times.......He very rarely brings any back home with him, giving the last away or trading for rides.........

He brings the "Patty Box" with him each day, loading it up in the morning with fresh pattys and returning at night filled with supplies for the next days sales, his bike is safe-stored by the end of the beach, near where he starts and finshes each day.

When he gets back home and does his "chores" and gets ready for the next day he will say his nightly prayers, and finally close his eyes...it will be around 11 PM!.

He has been pushing his bike through the beach sand for over 16 years now, and is in the process of fixing up a "scooter" to help him to work and home to cut down on his expenses so he wont have to raise his prices........(smart man)

As all Jamaicans do more than one job,,Patty Man also will cook you a fine Jamaican Meal at your place or elsewhere, and deliver it to you
We asked him for BIG LOBSTERS,,,and Mon ! did he deliver.......we were taking a dip in the pool when he arrived 'bout 4 in the afternoon one day with a bag, in it were 3 of the BIGGEST JAMAICAN LOBSTERS we had ever seen.............2 to 3 lbs of Tail Meat Each.
They were alive when he brought them to us, and I aked if he could de-tail them and set them on our porch....that night I steamed them in the shell with baked potatoes and steamed veggies.......it was as CoComando put it !!!!!!!!

I made him a shirt with his photo on it and we gave it to him on this visit...........


so if ya see a guy wearing a shirt with him on it,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,


you have just run into the PATTY MAN...............

Get up- go over, buy him OUT....and Help get that "scooter on Di Road!)

Watch him as he walks off, and feel proud and honored,y ou have just met a real "Jamaican Ledgend"


Hope you enjoyed my attempt at writing these inside looks at people we see,,,
will follow with more if you like......

Profile on "Fruit Lady" Link.........http://www.negril.com/discus/board/s...1494#POST21494
Profile on "Jennys"
Link.........http://www.negril.com/discus/board/s...1860#POST21860


Merry Christmas and Thank God/Jah for JAMAICA............

Sending well wishes his way! I will have to look out for him on my next reach.

We ALWAYS buy from Neville!!!~Our young kids love him!!!~We chatted for a while our last reach in May.Thanks for the info Yvonne!!~Jah knows!!~Glad he is pulling through!!~Much Respect!!

Send him my love... gonna miss him for the first time ever in October.

Sorry to hear this news about Neville. I always enjoy speaking with him on every trip. I will keep him in my prayers. I look forward to seeing him in December pushing his bike along the beach.

Also, do you know Judge -- the older driver that is affiliated with Negril Beach Club. He passed away and his funeral was this past weekend. I've known him for years and even though I always said hello to him, I still thought of him as being a cantankerous old man. Well, last August, my friends and I had so much fun with him as he was our driver for the night and we also got to hang out with him all night. I'm so glad I had that opportunity as he totally changed my opinion about him. Tomorrow is never promised - may he rest in peace!

I know who you speak of, and I cant think of his name either????

I always grab a couple of patties from him on the beach- sorry to hear about his troubles but happy to hear that he'll be back on his feet by the time I return to Negril. His singing out his menu, and the trilling of the fresh fruit lady are part of the beach soundscape that I love so much. Get well, Neville.

prayers for Neville! glad to hear he's recovering

Thoughts and prayers. I do hope he is well by Nov so I can get my daily patties from him.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1KFZ7y0qDE

This is august must be just before all that happened?

Car crash happened 8/15. What a great video. Thanks for posting!

I wish I had got the whole thing, but was laughing and took to long to catch it all!

My thoughts and best wishes are with Neville. He's a real pal and a great human being.

hoping he has a speedy recovery

OMG! Sending healing vibes and blessings to Neville and family. Looked for him and wondered where he was the last time I was there. Thanks, Yvonne.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jamerican71

Also, do you know Judge -- the older driver that is affiliated with Negril Beach Club. He passed away and his funeral was this past weekend. .... Tomorrow is never promised - may he rest in peace!

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I rode with Judge! oh my. Thanks Jamerican71. may he indeed rest peacefully.

Prayers to Neville and his family.

Oh no, poor Neville. He certainly is having to deal with a lot. Prayers for a full recovery.

Healing Prayers and All Blessings to Neville, the Patty Man! I can't picture Negril Beach without him. Also Prayers and Blessings to Judge and his family. We are losing too many good folks!

As I began to read, I was thinking "Oh no, I hope that is not my friend the Patty Man..." and when I saw the picture, I KNEW that it was. I am so sad to hear the troubles he has had but happy to know he survived and is looking to come back to the beach. I don't expect to see him this time when I come, although I will ask after him. I will definitely look to see him when I return come January. Please let him know that people are praying for him as I add my prayers to those already offered up.

God Bless him. Such a nice, respectful & hardworking man. I hope he recovers soon.

When we were there in September, I noticed he wasn't around, but the guy with the cardboard box was (who I always thought was the "patty mon" that everyone here talks about, but apparently not?) Thought we might have just not seen him, as we were spending a lot of time on the cliffs. This is sad news, and my thoughts are with him.

There are 2 patty men. I forget the other fellows name. He is very nice as well. And they seem to always share their business and are friendly with each other, from what I have seen.
Neville has the metal box on his bike

Sweet Neville................Get well soon!

The other patty man is Norman, he usually works more toward the AI end of the beach.

"Also, do you know Judge -- the older driver that is affiliated with Negril Beach Club. He passed away and his funeral was this past weekend. I've known him for years and even though I always said hello to him, I still thought of him as being a cantankerous old man. Well, last August, my friends and I had so much fun with him as he was our driver for the night and we also got to hang out with him all night. I'm so glad I had that opportunity as he totally changed my opinion about him. Tomorrow is never promised - may he rest in peace!"

So sorry to hear of Judge's passing. I know who he is. I'm glad you got to have a fun experience w/ him. May he rest in peace.

does anybody remember the other taxi man from NBCC, older fella, small frame, different first name, not
Judge.... ?????
Jean would always ask... "Do you want "...." to pick you up?"

Rob,
These posts from Rambo are invaluable.. They need to be archived somehow.. Can that be done?

Sorry to hear the bad news about Neville. He seems like a real good guy and definitely a hard worker.
We always have a good time with him chatting on the beach. I always ask him about his Doc's Harley Davidson bumper sticker (a local dealership near us) on his patty box and get a different response from him every time.
Love the way he talks! (Vag Patty!) Wishing him a speedy recovery fi sure.

wondering what the heck happened to him this summer....one of the hardest working vendors
he never came by when I was sitting on the beach...
good to hear he's getting well......wi all miss him.......

Cool Runnings, Marko

Prayers for a speedy recovery...one of the nicest people Ive met and a hell of a good patties, too

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Sad...although God willing and he has a full recovery from his injuries.........with his job, pushing a bike and walking in beach sand, its gonna be a tough road............uphill the rest of his life......:(

He needs a little beach buggy, or maybe a little cart with big beach type wheels pulled by a goat or something.

When I read about how horrible the crash was and how badly he was injured, my first thought was that if he was not in such great shape from pushing that bike in the sand all day every day, he would not have survived. I hope to see him on the beach in December.