Flashbacks of the horrific collision keep coming to 28-year-old Shelly Allen which makes her terrified, but when she thinks of how she managed to save the life of three-month-old Dinol, she becomes happy.
Allen and baby Dinol are two of the survivors in the recent collision between a Coast Guard vessel and a civilian boat in the Moruca River, Region One (Barima-Waini). The three occupants of the Coast Guard Radar Craft RC 17 also survived the crash, which occurred around 06:45 hrs on Friday.
The collision claimed the lives of Dinol’s mother, Helen Raybai, 33, of Waikrebi Village and 18-year-old Adrian Thomas of Kumaka Road, Santa Rosa, both of whom were teachers at St Bede’s Primary School. Thomas was piloting the 75 hp Yamaha engine boat, which was heading to Charity when tragedy struck near Kumaka during a turn.
Allen, speaking from her bed at the Oscar Joseph District Hospital at Charity, Essequibo Coast said her head hurts when she remembers what took place. She said she was thankful to be alive and even more happy that she saved the life of the baby. She said she thought they were both going to drown, but she kept praying and then they were rescued.
“We were sinking. Everything went down. I was seeing death before me. I was just trying to save the baby. He was crying. I didn’t know what else to do,” Allen said.
She related that she was sitting on the left hand side of the boat when the collision occurred. The boat got crushed and split in the middle. Everything began to sink. She said she grabbed the baby just as he was being submerged.
The baby, who is also still at the hospital, sustained a blow to the head, but no fractures. This newspaper understands that his father is travelling out, but in the meantime donations were given to take care of Dinol.
The bodies of Thomas and Raybai are currently at the Charity mortuary awaiting postmortem examinations.
