A fish vendor lost one of her fingers on Tuesday when she was shot by a robber.
Indira Ramgobind, 50, of 43 Coldingen, East Coast Demerara, is lucky to be alive as she managed to dodge most of the shots that were fired in her direction during the attack.
The gunman later escaped with $4,000 that she had made from selling fish on Tuesday morning.
It was only her second day selling fish with her husband.
She said the robber, who was young, approached them and began firing shots.
Ramgobind recalled that it was about 7.30am and she had already sold $4,000 worth of fish, which she had packed in a cart that was being pulled by a donkey.
The woman was at the time sitting in the cart, while her husband, Shaheed Abrahim, was steering the donkey cart along the Non Pareil Public Road, East Coast Demerara.
As the woman’s focus was selling the fish, she was expecting another customer when the young robber rode up towards her on a pedal cycle.
Ramgobind said that her recollection of the moment when she was shot is somewhat blurred as she can’t even remember what the gunman looked like.
She said that all she remembers is the resounding echoes of about five gunshots. She said that as the man aimed towards her head, she instinctively dodged while trying to shield herself with her hands as the gunshots rang out.
A bullet connected to one of the woman’s fingers, which was ripped off and was left inside her fish cart.
She said that she found herself eventually laying on the cart with the fish but the robber dragged her off the cart and stood over her as he emptied her pocket of the money she collected from sale of the fish.
Meanwhile, her husband ran for cover, leaving the donkey, which took off and ended up crashing into a parked vehicle.
As the bandit escaped on his pedal cycle, Ramgobind said she ran into a nearby yard, where she collapsed.
She was then transported to the police station by a public-spirited citizen but she was forced to endure a wait of over one hour as there was no vehicle available to transport her to the hospital at the time.
When she arrived at the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH), the woman said she was again left to wait her turn. She was grateful that she was able to finally be in the operation theatre by 5pm the same day, when she underwent surgery.
She was discharged from the hospital yesterday and said that she is happy to be alive.
