Driver in Vreed-en-Hoop accident still critical

The driver of the car which was involved in the accident on Sunday morning at Vreed-en-Hoop that claimed the life of one man, is still in a critical condition at the Dr. Balwant Singh Hospital, relatives say.

Twenty-year-old Victor Aditya Ram of Crane Housing Scheme died while 23-year-old Kevin Henry and 23-year-old Bishram Ramkishore, who was driving motor car PTT 6297, were injured after the car crashed into the fence of the Hand in Hand Insurance Company at Vreed-en-Hoop, West Coast Demerara, around 2:00 am.

Henry, who was in the back seat at the time of the accident, had explained that the three men were heading to a friend’s home when Ramkishore swerved to avoid hitting a pedestrian and careened off the road into a nearby drain before slamming into a large sign and then a concrete wall.

During the accident, Ram, who was tossed out of the car and onto the road, suffered severe injuries to his back and head, and according to a post-mortem examination performed on Monday, he died as a result of a fractured spine and neck.

Barely able to pull himself out of the mangled vehicle, Henry had related that he started walking to the hospital, as his friends were being assisted by public-spirted citizens. After a few minutes he arrived at the West Demerara Regional Hospital (WDRH) and his friends followed shortly after. Ram was pronounced dead on arrival and Ramkishore was admitted in a critical condition.

Speaking to Stabroek News on Tuesday, Ramkishore’s aunt, who identified herself as Amrita, said that he is still in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) showing no positive signs of recovery. The situation was the same yesterday.

“He’s still critical and the doctor said that they can’t answer so soon on what’s wrong, but he’s still critical and they said that anything can happen anytime. He can feel good but we just have to wait. He looks better than before, but all we can do is wait,” the woman said.

Amrita also explained that the family is not happy with how the WDRH  treated their relative as it seemed that they had given up on him.

“When we were there [WDRH] they looked after him and they said that they gave him pain tablets, but they couldn’t do anything because he is very critical. I was there for about two to three hours and they didn’t say back anything. They said he’s dropping lower and lower, and I got advice from my family to take him somewhere else and to just make a try, because they weren’t doing anything,” the woman explained.

She noted that after hours of nothing being done at the WDRH or any indication that they would transfer him to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC), the family took it upon themselves to have him transferred to the private hospital in the hope that he would receive better treatment.

“When we go to Balwant Singh Hospital they had about six doctors come around and look after him. They [WDRH] never mentioned anything about taking him to GPHC. They said it’s up to us if we want to move him. They said that they don’t think that it would make any difference because he’s critical and very low. They didn’t say that they gave up on him but they said that he’s not improving,” Amrita added, while pointing out that even though the hospital did not say that they gave up on him, the family felt so.