Latest update November 29th, 2024 1:00 AM
Minister, baby hurled through windscreen
…as ambulance slams car
(By Mondale Smith)
Minister within the Education Ministry, Dr Desrey Fox, and her grandson, Carlos, escaped death when their vehicle was slammed by an ambulance at the corners of Thomas Road and Vlissengen Road last evening.
Her son Terrence Jr was the driver at the time and his fiancée, Andrea De Santos, was briefly pinned in the vehicle.
Education Minister Desrey Fox and her grandchild were catapulted through this back window.
The family was rushed to the hospital minutes later as the Minister complained of excruciating pains in the region of her back. She was rushed into the Accident and Emergency Unit and then to the X-ray room nursing injuries to her hand and back. Her grandson, a toddler suffered minor injuries to his head and abrasions to his knee.
According to the ambulance driver, witnesses and others involved, the accident occurred about 18:00hrs.
From all accounts the ambulance was heading north along Vlissengen Road with its siren blaring and lights flashing when the car attempted to cross its path and was slammed. One porter from the ambulance said, “We were responding to an emergency call that a man had fallen off a scaffold at Victoria Village and we were going to collect him with the siren on and suddenly I hear bam, and I feel the impact.”
The left side of motor car, PKK8875, was smashed in on impact and the back windscreen exploded. One witness at the scene of the accident said, “When the ambulance slam the Minister car it spin and hit into the front of the Apache taxi and the Minister and a baby pitch out the back window.”
Another witness was loud in praises to God. “The woman land on the road and the baby landed on her; thank God. I thought the two ah dem dead but is a miracle they alive.”
As he clutched his abdomen at intervals the ambulance driver said, “I’m in the business of saving lives and I did all that I was supposed to do. The siren was on. I was responding to an emergency and everybody stopped but that car just turned on me.”
The ambulance
After brief interviews with the police he and two porters were whisked away from the scene.
Gregory Douglas, the driver of Apache taxi HB4065, said that he heard the siren coming and he stopped. He recalled that he had the green light and remained stationary to allow the ambulance to pass. “I remain stationary but the other car (the Minister’s) turned and was crossing and the ambulance slammed into it and it spin and crash into my car,” he said.
Neither he nor his passengers, a woman and her 11-month-old son, was injured.
At the Georgetown Public Hospital, other Cabinet Ministers and relatives gathered as the toddler and his father were wheeled into the X-ray room.
(Additional reporting by Brushell Blackman and Jamal Scott)
Similar Articles
THE BLUNT OF THE DAY
Sports
Features/Columnists
Fastest growing economy and an empty stadium
…Peeping Tom Kaieteur News- It’s a classic Guyanese tale, really. You live in the fastest growing economy in the... more
Rising Gun Crimes in the Caribbean: Urgent Action required by all
By Sir Ronald Sanders Kaieteur News – There is an alarming surge in gun-related violence, particularly among younger... more
Weekend Cartoon
