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Father of three succumbs two days after being struck by truck
By Shervin Belgrave
Kaieteur News – Three children were rendered fatherless yesterday after their father succumbed at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) as a result of severe head injuries, which he sustained in an accident with a truck on Thursday last.
Dead: Collin Mendonca
The man identified as Collin Mendonca, 45, of Lot 12 Hydronie, Parika, East Bank Essequibo (EBE) and Fitzburg, Port Kaituma, Region One was struck down by the truck close to 13:00hrs while riding across the Parika Public Road on his bicycle.
Kaieteur News was told that he had just left a supermarket when he met with the accident. CCTV footage obtained showed the man being hurled a short distance away as a result of the impact before he landed on the paved road, head first.
Eyewitnesses had hurriedly rushed over to render assistance. In cell phone recorded videos, Mendonca was seen lying face down on the road in an unresponsive state and bleeding from the head.
Kaieteur News learnt that police were alerted by one of the eyewitnesses who offered to rush the severely injured father of three to the Leonora Cottage Hospital. Someone had also made contact with his wife to inform her of the tragic incident.
Speaking with this newspaper, the woman recalled that she was resting in her bed when her phone rang.
She did not know who the caller was at the time but was reportedly left in a state of shock when she heard that her husband was “just knocked down by a truck.” The woman recounted that she grabbed her eldest son and burst into the tears.
After informing relatives, the woman said that she and her son hurried to the accident scene but when they got there, Mendonca had been taken to the hospital already.
Investigators related that when the injured man arrived at the Leonora Cottage Hospital, doctors there noted that he was unconscious and critical so they decided to refer him to the GPHC. According to relatives, when he arrived at the city hospital, doctors related that he was not breathing and after reviving him with some oxygen, Mendonca was rushed to the operating room for an emergency surgery.
A screengrab from CCTV footage that captured the moment when Mendonca was struck by the truck along the Parika Public Road.
One of his brothers, Clive Mendonca, said that it was a tense wait for him and other family members in front of the hospital as they awaited an update from doctors.
Hours later, he recounted, the surgeons called them in. They were hopeful, he said, as the doctors had indicated that he could survive because the surgery was a success, but this was not 100 percent guaranteed.
“The doctor said that they were successful in removing a huge blood clot from his brain but several other parts were still damaged and only time and his response to treatment will determine if he will recover from his unconscious state,” Clive told reporters.The following morning (Friday), according to Clive, he visited his brother in the Intensive Care Unit. Mendonca was still unconscious but the doctors had reportedly given him (Clive) some good news that his brother’s condition was improving.
Family members said that the update renewed their hope and they were comforted that they will be able to “gaff and laugh” with Mendonca again.
Unfortunately, this was not to be as on Saturday (yesterday), Mendonca died around 08:15hrs.
Clive recalled that he had once again gone to pay his brother a visit. This time, as he sat in the waiting area, he noticed that something might have gone wrong. “While I sit down waiting, I see all them doctors rushing in the room and everybody was tense and the thought crossed my mind that probably something is wrong with my brother,” Clive recounted.
His fears soon became reality when the doctor came up to him and reportedly said, “We lost him, I am sorry.”
Clive remembered sitting in silence for a while as he tried to figure out the best possible way to notify his brother’s wife and the rest of the family. Relatives said that when they received the news, many burst into tears as they will now have to live with the fact that their loved one will not be returning home.
Mendonca was described as a hardworking father who loved his family and would often crack jokes just to cheer others up.
As it relates to the investigation in the accident, this newspaper was reliably informed that the driver of the truck who struck down Mendonca is still in custody.
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