‘Loose wheels, lost life’: husband blames truck owner’s neglect for wife’s death

Oct 07, 2025 News

(Kaieteur News) – Leroy Punch, the husband of 65-year-old Donna Punch, who tragically lost her life in a freak vehicular mishap, is holding the owner and driver responsible for the tragedy which has left the community in shock and grief.

‘Loose wheels, lost life’: husband blames truck owner’s neglect for wife’s death

The truck driven by 35-year-old Divindranauth Seeram, with the loose wheel that caused the death of Donna Punch on Sunday

The woman, Lot 40 Section A, Alness Village, Corentyne Berbice, was killed on Sunday, when the rear wheel of a passing lorry flew off and smacked her while on her way to church with her husband. The now dead woman was arranging transportation for herself and husband when the incident occurred. As a car was pulling over to collect them, the husband recalled that he heard a truck approaching, but entered the car nonetheless.

“Suddenly, for some reason I just glimpsed back to the direction of the lorry, and is a big tire coming straight to me and my wife. I barely take evasive action off of instinct,” Punch told Kaieteur News.

The next image he saw after was that of his wife tumbling in the direction of a nearby drain. He said based on the impact of the blow and her position when she stopped, he was certain she was dead.

“When I run down in the corner, since I hold my wife, I know she died…her whole head was sheer blood,” he detailed.

Dead: Donna Punch

She was taken to the Port Mourant Hospital where she was pronounced dead on arrival. Punch disclosed that the driver fled the scene without assisting.

“When you know you hit somebody, you’re supposed to at least come to render assistance,” Punch lamented.

The owner’s family, however, did reach out to the bereaved family, he confirmed.

Nevertheless, the grieving 64-year-old husband vented to this publication that it was the negligence of both the vehicle operator and owner of the lorry that caused the demise of his wife of nearly 40 years.

A former truck driver himself, Punch stated that for such types of vehicles, frequent inspections should be conducted before they begin their daily course on the roadways.

“These people are very careless. You can’t get these big vehicles and ain’t service them….and you’re going to pick up a truck and start driving without even checking your lug nut? That is the first thing you’re supposed to do because that is death.”

Punch, who is also a pastor, previously worked for many years as a heavy-duty vehicle operator. He told this newspaper that he is very much familiar with the weight of the truck tires, and could understand precisely why the impact caused the death of his partner.

“When you come in the morning to pick up your truck to drive, your service man gets into the truck, check the wheel, come back, turn on the truck, check the gauges and thing kinda things, and you (also) gon’ second check. But a man who will jump on a truck without checking his wheels is a total failure,” the ex-trucker reasoned.

This negligence on the part of the owner and the driver, he said, cost him his wife, a pensioner, whom he described as service-oriented to her church, and whose upstanding character the entire community could vouch for.

The couple resided at Alness and had three children together.

Meanwhile, police in a release Monday said investigation is ongoing into the fatal incident which occurred on Sunday, on the Alness public road involving motor lorry #GAJ 4955, driven by Divindranauth Seeram, a 35-year-old resident of Corentyne, and pedestrian Donna Punch.

The statement said two pedestrians came out of a street on the northern side of Alness public road, and were standing on the side of the road. According to information gathered, the lorry was proceeding west along the southern drive lane when both of its right-side rear wheels became dislodged and collided with Donna Punch who was standing on the northern corner of the road.

As a result of the collision, the pedestrian fell onto the grass parapet, where she received injuries to her head and body. She was picked up in an unconscious condition by public-spirited citizens and taken to the Port Mourant Public Hospital, where she was pronounced dead on arrival. Her body is at Ramoo’s Funeral Home, awaiting a post-mortem examination.

The lorry driver is in police custody, assisting with the investigation.

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Leroy Punch, Loose wheels, lost life, Neglect, truck

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