Almost two weeks after she was involved in the Land of Canaan accident on the East Bank where five persons were killed, 10-year-old Priya Ali is still attached to a life support machine in the Intensive Care Unit of the Georgetown Hospital and her family says there are very few signs that she is recovering.
Speaking to Stabroek News yesterday Priya’s father Chetram Chabiram said that he is still holding high hopes although there is not much evidence that the child is recovering. He said that she would gain consciousness and barely open her eyes for a few seconds but she does not focus on anything. Sometimes she would grip his hand tightly when he holds hers, Chabiram added, suggesting that this is probably when pain hits her.
The father related that doctors have told them that the broken parts of Priya’s body – her hips and left shoulder – are not as serious a problem as her head injuries. It was earlier reported that a brain scan had revealed that Priya’s brain was swelling. Her father also said that the family has to buy injections that Priya needs from Woodlands Hospital, since they are not available at the Georgetown Hospital.
Priya sustained her injuries in the Land of Canaan accident when, according to a police press release, Jason Martin who died in the accident, lost control of the car he was driving. He was allegedly going at a fast rate and collided with Priya and her relatives who were walking southwards on the right hand side of the road.
The accident also resulted in the death of five friends – Jason and Julian Martin, Colin Fredericks, Ezra Ferguson, and Royston Dempster from Plaisance East Coast, Demerara. The friends had gone to the creek on the Linden Highway and were returning home in the car when the accident occurred at the Land of Canaan public road turn around 8 pm.
