Rookhia Kalloo, the eighty-six-year-old passenger who is hospitalised following the crash-landing of a Fly Jamaica plane at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport last Friday, has suffered a fractured skull.
Speaking to Stabroek News last night, her grandson, Kishan Ganesh, said the swelling of Kalloo’s brain resulted from the injury. It is suspected that she was hit on the head at the time of the crash landing.
Kalloo, her daughter, Lilawattie Persaud, and her granddaughter were among those aboard Fly Jamaica flight OJ 257, which had been en route to Toronto, Canada when it experienced hydraulic issues. This mechanical issue forced the pilot to make an emergency landing.
Doctors at the Woodlands Hospital indicated to the family that there is nothing that could be done for Kalloo. Due to the cost to continue to keep her at the private hospital, the grandson yesterday said the family has moved Kalloo to Georgetown Public Hospital, where she has been admitted as a patient.
Persaud told this newspaper that her mother had been very hysterical after the accident but did not complain of having suffered any injuries. Hours after returning home from the airport, the daughter recalled seeing her mother being disoriented. After being questioned about her health, Kalloo told her daughter that she was not feeling well. As a result, a decision was made to take her to the Woodlands Hospital, where she was immediately admitted.
Since the accident, Persaud said her mother has lost the ability to speak and move on her own.
“She went to sleep but woke up different, the last time I heard my mother speak was on Sunday when I asked her if she was okay, but now she totally shut down… the doctors said that her brain is swollen and that it is shutting down and that there is nothing else they can do for her,” Persaud shared.
Despite the woman’s story being in the press, the grandson said the airline has failed to contact the family.
At the time of the accident, Kalloo, her daughter and granddaughter were returning to Canada after vacationing here for four weeks.
