Vincent Gomes, a beloved son, brother and Seabourn Head Sommelier, died after suffering a devastating head injury during attack while returning to his cruise ship from shore leave in Nice, France. His sudden death has left his family heartbroken and searching for justice, answers and the strength to cope with a loss they never imagined.

According to his sister, Sharon Gomes Dahlberg, Vincent went ashore with a friend after his ship arrived in Nice on April 30  2026. While they were returning, three men approached and attacked them in what the family believes was a robbery.

Sharon said one of the men punched Vincent in the face, causing him to fall backward and strike his head on the ground. Local residents reportedly rushed to help, and Vincent was taken to a nearby hospital with a severe head injury.

By the time his family received the devastating news, Vincent was in critical condition.

Sharon immediately traveled to France to be by her younger brother’s side. Soon after reaching the hospital, doctors told her that Vincent had only a few hours left.

She described sitting alone that night, overwhelmed by grief and struggling with the unbearable thought of telling their parents that their son might never return home alive.

Doctors informed the family that Vincent had suffered brain death. Sharon pleaded for more time before the ventilator was switched off so that she could speak with her parents and allow them to prepare for the unimaginable.

On May 5, Sharon stood beside her brother as life support was withdrawn and watched him take his final breath.

“I never in my life thought that this day would come to our family,” she wrote. “It’s so unfair to us.”

With help from friends Sharon filed a police report. She said French police informed her that a suspect had been arrested and that surveillance footage captured the incident. These details, including the circumstances and possible motive behind the alleged attack, have not been independently confirmed through French authorities.

Vincent, also known to his loved ones as Sujoy, had built a respected cruise ship career and served with pride as a Head Sommelier for Seabourn. His family remembers him not only for his professional achievements, but for the person he was away from work: kind, humble, ambitious and deeply loved.

Sharon described him as her “baby brother,” a talented young man who was focused on his career and always treated others with kindness.

The family’s suffering did not end at the hospital.

In a letter sent to Crew Center, Sharon raised serious concerns about the repatriation of Vincent’s remains to India. She alleges that Seabourn assumed responsibility for the arrangements and repeatedly assured the family that her brother was being kept in appropriate and dignified conditions while the necessary procedures were completed.

Vincent was finally returned to India on July 6, approximately two months after his death. According to Sharon, his body arrived in a condition that caused the family further anguish and left them deeply traumatized at a moment when they were supposed to be able to say a peaceful final goodbye.

A funeral service was held at Our Lady of Fatima Church in Thane on July 6. After weeks of waiting, Vincent was finally surrounded by the parents, relatives and friends who loved him and had been longing for the chance to say goodbye.

For his family, however, the grief remains raw. His parents are still in deep shock, while Sharon continues to struggle with the painful reality that her brother is no longer with them.

“Sometimes I dream that you never left,” she wrote in her tribute. “Waking up from that dream feels like losing you all over again. I miss you every single minute.”

Behind every crew member’s uniform is a person with parents waiting at home, siblings who worry about them and loved ones counting the days until their return. Vincent left for work with plans, ambitions and a future. His family expected to welcome him home after another contract, not to face the heartbreak of laying him to rest.

Crew Center extends sincere condolences to Vincent’s parents, his sister Sharon, his relatives, friends and shipboard colleagues. Losing a loved one in such sudden and violent circumstances is an unimaginable tragedy.