Schoolboy hit by minibus succumbs

Sixteen-year-old Collin Barry who was flung from his motorcycle by a speeding Route 40 minibus at the corner of Regent and Wellington streets last week succumbed to his injuries just before midnight on Tuesday.

Barry of 102 Quamina Street was a patient in the Intensive Care Unit of the Georgetown Public Hospi-tal and remained unconscious until he died.

Reports are that around 4 pm last Thursday, Barry was sent to drop off a package at America and Water streets by a relative.

He was proceeding along Wellington Street and as he attempted to cross Regent Street, he was hit by the mini-bus.

He was picked up in an unconscious state and rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital. When he arrived one side of his head was covered in blood which was flowing onto his shoulder. He showed no signs of movement and his eyes were closed.

A tube had to be placed in his throat to help him to breathe.

When this newspaper visited his home yesterday afternoon, grief was evident.

The lad’s mother Myrelyn Francis was being comforted.

Relatives said that Collins was a student of Tutorial High School and would usually ride a motorbike. They said the doctors had told them that Collins’ condition was complicated. According to the relatives the teen had broken ribs and shoulders and there was some bleeding in the brain.

Collins’ cousin Shelly Francis told this newspaper that the doctor had said that the bleeding was worse than a fracture because surgery could not fix it.

Collins also had bruises on his left hand and foot and it appeared that he was dragged by the bus for some distance after being hit. Shelly said that words cannot describe just how wonderful he was. She said that she could get him to do anything for her, and he was like her best friend.

Collins was the only child for his parents, Calvin Barry and Myrelyn Francis.

Myrelyn managed to tell this newspaper yesterday that after she got the message about the accident she ran around the corner but collapsed. She said that when she got to the hospital she fainted.

Collins’ father informed this newspaper that the driver of the minibus passed through the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday and was fined $40,000, but he could not say what the charge was.