Accident victim left in a coma, succumbs

Sep 04, 2023 News

Kaieteur News- An accident victim left in a two-week-long coma succumbed to his injuries last Saturday at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC).

The 27-year-old victim, Denzil Smith, was struck down by a speeding car on Wednesday August 9, in the vicinity of Covent Garden, East Bank Demerara (EBD), along the New Diamond Access Road.

Smith had suffered severe brain damage and was in a coma for two weeks. His relatives told Kaieteur News on Saturday that he never regained consciousness.

“He went on life support machine and then them tek he off and then them put he on back again and last week Saturday (August 26), he dead”, Sm

An unconscious Denzil Smith on life support machine days before he succumbed to his injuries.

ith’s sister, Keisha Smith said.

He was reportedly laid to rest yesterday.

The driver of the speeding car that claimed Smith’s life is a firefighter. Police on August 12 had said that he was in custody, but since then, there was no additional information released about the investigation.

Kaieteur News reached out to police on Sunday to find-out if the firefighter was charged, or if he was released on station bail pending further investigation. But both the divisional Commander, Mahendra Singh, and head of the Force’s Communications Unit, Mark Romoutar, were not available to take calls at the time.

According to one eyewitness, Smith was crossing the road when he was struck down by a speeding car. The eyewitness said that he was driving his vehicle in a northern direction when a speeding car overtook his vehicle just as the victim was about to cross the road.

The eyewitness had slowed down and a minibus travelling in the opposite direction had stopped and put on the hazard lights for Smith to cross. But the firefighter’s car could not slow down in time and ended up knocking him down.

“…The man overtook us with such a speed, he was unable to stop, he tried to swerve but it was too late”, the eyewitness recounted.

Police have also obtained CCTV footage of the accident too and it showed that after Smith realized that car was not going to slow down, he ran as fast as he could to get to the other side and out of its path, but unfortunately, he was not quick enough.

The impact of the collision flung Smith up into the air and he landed on the paved road face down where he remained motionless. Police were alerted immediately.

Smith’s relatives do not live far from the accident scene and according to his sister, Keisha Smith, she was inside her house when her 10-year-old ran in and informed her of the tragedy.

“He ran in an seh, mammy Denzil dead”, the woman said.

Keisha recalled that she rushed out to the street and collapsed on the roadway after seeing her brother bleeding away on the road.

Smith’s relatives believe that the firefighter is responsible for his suffering and loss, and wants him to be prosecuted.

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Accident Victim, coma, Denzil Smith, succumbs

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