A reporter experiences a life-changing experience

Jan 30, 2011 News

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By Leonard Gildarie

Part of the training of any new reporter is a warning to expect the unexpected.
Things happen all the time. According to Adam Harris, Editor-in-Chief, too many things are happening for reporters to complain that there are no stories. For me the most pertinent advice is to be prepared. News is happening all the time.
On Wednesday morning, the day started no different from others. It ended with a life-changing experience that underscored, for me, the fragility of life which could be gone in a few seconds. I definitely was not prepared for what happened.
I had an early morning assignment at Grand Coastal Inn on the East Coast of Demerara and was set to work late at Kaieteur News.
I called Dave, our driver at the newspaper, and asked him to pick me up since it has become a practice for me not to drive late anymore.
He was by my home at Parfaite Harmonie, West Bank Demerara, around 07:20 hrs. It was too early, he said, and he had decided not to drop his son to school. It was a decision we would both not regret.
I kissed my family goodbye and we left the home and drove along Canal Number One Public Road.
At La Grange the traffic was not that heavy leading to the Demerara Harbour Bridge.
I was thinking of the busy day ahead. There was budget debate in Parliament and a couple of assignments and I was mentally bracing myself for the long hours ahead.
Suddenly, I saw this dark-colored wagon coming around the bend ahead, heading toward us at a fast clip.
There is a moment in life, I firmly believe now, that changes the perspective on things. At that point, time stops and there is a profound moment of clarity.
I saw that car attempting to right itself from its speed before it skidded into the grass. The driver managed to bring the car back onto the roadway.
I could still hear Dave, with fear in his voice, warning of the speed from the car. We slowed.
In horror, I watched as the wagon hurtled towards our side of the road. It was like a bad movie.
I could hear Dave screaming. I closed my eyes. There was nothing I could have done as the seatbelt was on.
I am not sure whether he hit the power post or smashed into our car, an AT 192, first.
The tearing impact and shock was unbelievable. I later learnt that the post was cracked into two.
I could hear the screaming. Then everything went black. I caught myself shortly after seeing persons pulling the driver of the wagon from the trunk area. I thought he was dead.
Then everything went black again.
The next time I regained consciousness I was in a car. The driver told me that he was taking me to the hospital. There was a constant ringing in my ears and my chest was on fire. Nothing seemed to be broken.
Not wanting to worry my wife, I managed to call my mother. I could her cries over the phone.
I slowly regained my senses at the West Demerara Regional Hospital. Several persons including nurses and doctors came in. My phone was ringing like crazy.
They were asking if anybody for me was coming.
A short while later, a young doctor came in and pressed several parts of my body before using something to pound it with. I wanted to kick him.
There was nothing broken, he assured. The discomfort was the stress to the body from the seatbelt which tightened on the impact. There was a very tender area in my right chest and the neck was a little swollen. He ordered an x-ray.
Shortly after, I saw my uncle, mother and sister in the room. There were expressions of relief and concerns.
Then I saw Sharmain, my colleague at Kaieteur News. I knew then that everything was alright, despite the nagging ache in the chest.
The x-ray machine was not working. I was taken to a laboratory in Vreed-en-Hoop where the x-rays were done. Outside the hospital, my wife and two kids were there. There were tears in my wife’s eyes.
My four-year-old son asked if everything was alright…he had heard that I was in an accident. I am not sure now if he ever used that word before.
After returning with the x-ray results, in a world that was somewhat surreal, I was rushed into a room with a female doctor. Everything seemed fine from the tests.
But she questioned me about smoking. She was quite sure from the x-rays that I was. It was a sobering moment. I had been indulging in that habit for three years now.

After receiving two dreaded injections for the pain and some tablets, I asked to be taken to see Dave, who was La Grange Police Station. At the hospital entrance, it was packed with family and colleagues. Their looks of concerns were reassuring.
At the police station, I was told that the driver of the other car was nowhere to be found. I was more concerned about Dave’s condition and his car. It was his livelihood. He has a mortgage on his home.
I gave a statement to the police on the accident and went outside to survey the damage to the cars. It is unbelievable now that we escaped any serious injuries. Dave’s car was totaled. The wagon would probably need a new front.
Waiting anxiously for us were my family and work colleagues. There were Neil, Rabindra, Jenelle and Sharmain and my brother.
Looking back now on that Wednesday incident, it was one that in the very least, that I would describe as life-changing. I have not touched a cigarette since then, a habit, sad to say, that I loved.

I also saw the love of the people around me- my family, my work colleagues.
The incident pales in comparison to the many accidents that leave untold damage to families and loved ones.
I could not understand how the driver of the wagon managed to disappear while on his way to the hospital. He has been found though, claiming that he went to a private hospital and then to “throw back” by an aunt.
I have now learnt that Sam, one of our friends at Kaieteur News, lived nearby and he managed to rush to scene, pulling me from the car. A brother of a worker at the newspaper helped also.
Today, while writing this story, I remembered watching a message from televangelist, Joyce Meyers, who argued that fear is the single most factor that stops us from venturing forward.
I realise now that somehow I was convinced throughout that accident on Wednesday that everything was going to be alright.

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