`Good Samaritan' rescues
injured child
`We
got to thank God for this man here,
because hadn't it been for him, Nickace might have been dead by
now' - victim's relatives
By Shirley Thomas
`Good
Samaritan' Tekchand, also called 'Ome'
She had just left her parents' home and was heading for her
grandmother's not too far away when, around 08:30 hrs, she was
hit by the mini-bus just opposite the Mahaica Police Station.
Witnesses said that after being hurled through the air, she landed in the middle of the road bleeding.
The child reportedly suffered cuts to the face and head injuries and lay unconscious for some time.A crowd quickly gathered at the scene of the accident, but persons only peered curiously. The driver apparently panicked and quickly disappeared into the crowd, reports say. No one immediately rendered any assistance, and as some persons surmised, the villagers, realising that it was a Police matter, were waiting for the ranks to come out of the station and take over.
But as the helpless child lay bleeding, another mini-bus approached, and on realising that something was amiss, one of its passengers, Tekchand, also called Ome, of Lot 10 Mon Repos, East Coast Demerara, said he enquired and learnt that it was an acciden
QUICK humanitarian action and knowledge of first aid procedure on the part of a passerby on the Mahaica Public Road, East Coast Demerara yesterday saved the life of a nine-year-old girl.
Other relatives of Nickace Charles at the Georgetown Public Hospital.
(Corwin Williams photos)
The child, Nickace Charles of Good Hope, Mahaica, was struck
down by a mini-bus while attempting to cross the busy
thoroughfare yesterday morning. The driver of the bus said she
was apparently distracted by a packet of corn curls on which she
was munching.
She had just left her parents' home and was heading for her
grandmother's not too far away when, around 08:30 hrs, she was
hit by the mini-bus just opposite the Mahaica Police Station.
Witnesses said that after being hurled through the air, she
landed in the middle of the road bleeding. The child reportedly
suffered cuts to the face and head injuries and lay unconscious
for some time.
A crowd quickly gathered at the scene of the accident, but
persons only peered curiously. The driver apparently panicked
and quickly disappeared into the crowd, reports say. No one
immediately rendered any assistance, and as some persons
surmised, the villagers, realising that it was a Police matter,
were waiting for the ranks to come out of the station and take
over.
But as the helpless child lay bleeding, another mini-bus
approached, and on realising that something was amiss, one of
its passengers, Tekchand, also called Ome, of Lot 10 Mon Repos,
East Coast Demerara, said he enquired and learnt that it was an
accident.
Tekchand said that on looking closer, he saw the blood
covered body of the child lying in the middle or the road.
"I jumped out o' the bus and ran towards her.
"When I got to her, she didn't appear to be breathing,
and her body was limp."
He said he turned her over and saw that she still had life in
her. The 'Good Samaritan' said that on realising that, he
immediately began to perform artificial (mouth-to-mouth)
respiration on her and she began responding.
The man, still with blood on his clothes as he spoke with the
Chronicle, said that he then cradled her and lifted her into the
mini-bus which had hit her and called for the driver to take
them to the Georgetown Public Hospital.
None of the child's relatives knew anything until after she
had been dispatched to hospital.
According to witnesses, up to then, no Police rank did
anything to help.
Some time after they arrived at the hospital, a policeman
showed up and proceeded to do investigations, they said.
Tekchand said that he had no reservations about rendering the
humanitarian gesture and that he happily did it out of love.
"There was nothing else I could have done on seeing that
child lying on the road in that condition. It's a human
life," he said.
However, both Tekchand and the relatives of the child who
subsequently arrived at the hospital were disappointed that no
policeman intervened to offer any help.
Tekchand was of the view that a rank from the Mahaica Police
Station should have accompanied the vehicle taking the patient
to the hospital, especially since the accident took place
opposite the station.
"What if there was a road block or some other form of
obstruction along the way? I really feel that the Police
outrider who eventually turned up at the hospital should have
been riding ahead of the bus, or be in the bus with the child to
help us get to the hospital quickly," he argued.
The policeman who was at the hospital declined to comment.
The child's mother, Ms. Rhonda Murray said she had left
Mahaica earlier in the morning to do business in Georgetown and
was in the city when she received a telephone message that her
daughter was involved in an accident and was at the hospital.
Meanwhile, the child's father and other anxious relatives soon joined them at the hospital and expressed profound appreciation to the `Good Samaritan' Tekchand, openly stating: "We got to thank God for this man here, because hadn't it been for him, Nickace might have been dead by now."
Friday, July 12, 2002
