More than 12 hours after she was hit by a speeding bicycle, a 10-year-old girl succumbed to her wounds at the George-town Public Hospital early yesterday morning.
Chrisanna Edwards, of Parika, East Bank Essequibo, was the eldest of three children. The cyclist who hit Chrisanna is currently in police custody and is expected to be charged shortly.
Police Officer Trenny Edwards, who is stationed at Parika, told Stabroek News yesterday afternoon that he was at work when he got news of what had happened to his daughter.
Police, in a press statement hours after the child’s death, said they are investigating the circumstances. Investigations, they said, have revealed that Chrisanna was struck by a pedal cyclist at about 2 pm on Monday. The child, according to police, was walking along the Parika Access Road.
After the incident Chrisanna was rushed to the Leonora Cottage Hospital where she was treated and released. However, police reported that at approximately 4 am yesterday the child complained to her parents about feeling unwell and they immediately rushed her to the Georgetown Public Hospital. She succumbed while being treated.
When Stabroek News visited the Edwardses yesterday at their home the screams of Chrisanna’s mother could be heard from the Parika market which is located across the road. His wife, Trenny told this newspaper, was still in shock and all was being done to calm her.
Trenny explained that he’d been stationed at the location for the last six years but he and his family were originally from the North West District. When he received word of the accident, Trenny recalled, he immediately rushed to his wife’s aid on Monday afternoon.
“When I got to the scene several vendors around who saw what had happened related the incident to me,” Trenny said. “The bicycle is currently being lodged at the Parika Police Station and the cyclist is still in custody…I can’t tell you if or when they will charge him. Maybe they will do it later in the week.”
Questioned about the extent of the injuries his daughter suffered Trenny said that he was unable to accurately describe it. Chrisanna, according to him, suffered no broken bones.
“A post-mortem will be conducted on her tomorrow and then we will know the cause of death so I will be able to tell you something concrete,” he said.
The man believes though that his daughter died as a result of the injuries she sustained when she was hit by the bicycle. Chrisanna, he told this newspaper, did not suffer from any health problems and prior to the incident “she was just fine”.
Meanwhile, several vendors who witnessed the incident on Monday afternoon said that the child was attempting to cross the road when she was hit by the bicycle. The incident occurred just across the road from the child’s house.
“De child was trying to cross de road,” one vendor recalled, “and like she didn’t really looking where she de going and this bicycle come speeding and knock she down.”
Another vendor said they turned around when they heard Chrisanna’s scream and saw the child on the road.
A third vendor told this newspaper that Chrisanna was “a foot or two” from the point of impact. The child’s head, they said, slammed into the hard surface of the road and they believe that it was this which may have led to the rapid deterioration in Chrisanna’s condition.
Vendors and other persons at the Parika Market area expressed great concern for the safety of children. The location, they said, is always busy and congested with traffic.
“Imagine a bicycle did this to this lil girl,” a woman said, “so imagine if it was some taxi or something racing for a parking spot…the police station is located just a few buildings away from where this child get hit and they need to do more to regulate the situation around here.”
