Dexter Robert, the porter who was aboard the truck that capsized along the Linden-Lethem trail last Wednesday, has been hailed as a hero for his efforts to save the lives of the other two survivors.
Robert, who suffered injuries to his back, is currently recuperating at his Swan Village, Linden-Soesdyke Highway home.
Robert told Sunday Stabroek that although he can move around on his own, doctors ordered that he takes bed rest.
Robert was one of the three men who survived the accident, which claimed the life of truck driver Anil Persaud. The others are Carlos Romerio, a Venezuelan national, and Stephan Sutherland, a student of the University of Guyana.
The men were all occupants of motor lorry, BCC 9430, which capsized at Devil Hill, along the Linden-Lethem Trail around 2 pm on Wednes-day while transporting a trailer laden with lumber, reportedly ranging between 20 feet to 40 feet in length.
The truck was being driven by Persaud, 35, a resident of Norton Street, Lodge.
Police enquiries had revealed that they were going up the hill when the trailer started to fall backwards and Persaud, after noticing this, tried to change gears and turn right, which resulted in the truck capsizing.
“We did coming down hill, round a turn, the trailer did going pun one side so we had fah drive with speed fah the trailer straighten up back. When we run the hill fah guh up the next hill, round a turn, we lose control and the whole truck flip over,” Robert said.
The truck flipped twice, he noted.
Robert, who was seated in the front passenger seat, said he fainted and upon regaining consciousness, he rushed to assist the others, who were trapped.
The cabin, which they were all in, was severely crushed by the impact.
After Romerio was freed, Robert said the dazed and injured man left the scene, leaving him and Sutherland behind alone. Romerio suffered several injuries, including head injuries, and remains hospitalised. The injured man was reportedly found five miles from the crash site.
“I didn’t know wah fah do, so I just tek the jack out, jack up the cabin lil fah he (Sutherland) geh lil air and set up he head and tek he out. He whole body did clamp down… if I didn’t save he, he coulda be dead,” Robert related.
Sutherland was trapped under the wreckage for around seven hours. In the crushed cabin, which was in an overturned position, the truck batteries had fallen on him and diesel from the tanks had poured on his face.
After several vehicles had passed them by, passengers from two buses assisted in helping to lift the wreckage to free him. Up to that point, no emergency services nor the police had arrived though the Linden-Lethem trail is the main artery connecting the coast to the southern part of the country.
The three injured persons were subsequently transported to Mabura where an ambulance was waiting. The three were crammed into the tiny ambulance as the drivers of other vehicles refused to assist in transporting them. The ambulance then set out for the several hours-long trip to the Linden hospital arriving there just before 6am the next day.
Persaud’s lifeless body was pulled from the crushed cabin hours after the incident.
Since the accident, Robert said he hadn’t heard from officials of the lumber yard. “They know this happen yea but them ain’t know which part we living. Them ain’t even gah we numba,” he said.
While Robert was discharged, Sutherland is now admitted at a private hospital in the city and Romerio also remains hospitalised.
Robert explained to Sunday Stabroek that he and Romerio worked with Persaud, who was hired by a lumberyard to transport the lumber.
