Two children are in critical condition in the intensive care unit (ICU) of the Georgetown Public Hospital following an accident on Monday around 7.30 pm on the Grass Field, Enmore Access Road.
According to relatives, a 16-year-old girl and an 11-year-old boy are on life support in the ICU.
Reports state that the accident involved motor car, PAE 3091, driven by a 20-year-old businessman of Enmore Hope East on the East Coast Demerara, an electric cycle, and a 16-year-old girl along with two other male juveniles, all of Grass Field Enmore.
The investigation has so far revealed that the car was proceeding south along Enmore Grass Field Access Road, when the driver alleged that he lost control of the motor car, causing it to topple and end up in a drain. However, before coming to a stop, the car collided with an electric cycle. When the driver exited his vehicle, he observed the three persons lying on the roadway as a result of the impact of the collision.
The three accident victims were picked up in an unconscious condition with the help of public-spirited citizens and the Enmore police patrol and rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital.
Rishi Persaud, who identified himself as the boyfriend of teenaged female victim, told Stabroek News yesterday that sometime between 6:30 and 7 pm on Monday, he along with his girlfriend, best friend, and the 11-year-old boy were chatting at the corner of the road when he saw the driver of the car drag racing his brother who was driving a bus. According to his account, the car overtook the bus and then lost control and ran into them. He said he managed to get out of the way, but the others were unable to do so.
“By the time I could tell them move out of the way, the car done reach already, it down run into them, only me got the chance to move. She ended up beside the drain, the 11-year-old landed in the trench, and the 14-year-old was flung into the neighbour’s gate and ended up on the ground.
The father of the 16-year-old girl, Basant Khemraj, of 257 Plantain Walk, Enmore said that he couldn’t say exactly what happened since he wasn’t at the scene but when he returned home on Monday, he received a voice note from his sister and cousin informing him of the accident. He immediately rushed to the hospital to see what had happened.
He relayed that his daughter is currently on life support at the GPH. The doctors informed him that she suffered a broken pelvis, a broken foot, and is bleeding in her brain.
Khemraj said that he overheard that the driver would like to settle the matter but is against it as he wants the matter to go through the courts.
“My daughter was in my care and I always go all out for her. I just want to know the root cause of the story before I take legal action, I don’t want any settlement. I want the matter to go through the court, so the court can make a decision on the matter. I want the driver to be charged for what he did because I understand that a road is being built currently at the back of the scheme, and the two brothers were drag racing when the incident occurred.”
He noted that his daughter was not living with him when the accident occurred as his daughter and her boyfriend are living together in the same area.
Meanwhile, Amanda Etwaroo, the mother of the 11-year-old boy who is in the ICU, told this newspaper that on the night of the accident, her son was sleepy because she along with other family members were returning from Easter activities, so she asked Rishi, his partner, and the 14-year-old to take her son home. However, before her son arrived home, he asked her to buy him a Supligen supplement. She relayed that while Rishi and others went ahead with her son, she was purchasing the item for her son when she received a phone call from a neighbour informing her about the accident. She said that the time of the accident, they were all outside with the electric bike on the parapet waiting for her and other family members to arrive.
“All I know, I received a phone call that my son was hit by a car because the driver who was under the influence of alcohol was drag racing a bus, overtake the bus and lost control of his car then hit the children.”
The mother of the 14-year-old boy who was flung into Etwaroo’s gate, Deokee Persaud, told Stabroek News that her son was discharged from the GPH at noon yesterday.
She said that at the time of the incident, she was returning home after celebrating Easter and received a call about 7:15pm from neighbours informing her that her son was in an accident and had died. She related that when she arrived at the scene, she saw a lot of people and when she enquired about her son, she was told that “her son had died and people gone with him.”
She was then told by another person that an ambulance and police had taken her son to the GPH. She recounted her relief when she arrived at the emergency unit of the hospital and was told that the doctor was attending to his injuries.
“My son was discharged from the hospital yesterday, around noon. He had sustained injuries to the left side of his body, including bruises to his arm and face. He can’t walk like he should but he’s trying.”
She said that she is the owner of the electric bike and her son was just using it. She added that at the time of the incident, the teen girl was on the bike, the 11-year-old was sitting at the back of the bike and her son was standing next to the scooter on the parapet when the accident occurred.
