-appeals to motorist responsible for her injuries to have a heart
A 34-year-old mother of two, struck down by a silver grey Toyota motor car at the junction of Albert and Croal Streets, Georgetown about a month ago, incapacitated and languishing in bed, is calling on the motorist and the company with which he is contracted to work to have a heart, and let justice be not only done, but appear to be done.
Harlequin, who is also a member of the Guyana Police Force claims that, the matter, instead of being resolved, with each passing day, is getting progressively worse, and the driver of the motor vehicle who has not spent even one night in the lock ups, is at liberty to continue driving.
Stricken in bed with three fractures to her right leg, each implanted with steel plates, and cast in plaster-of-Paris, the hapless young mother remains a prisoner in her own bed, from whence she is forced to do everything within her limitations.
Her nightmare began on the morning of January 18 when she was struck down by a motorist engrossed in conversation on a cellular phone and driving at a fast rate, south along Albert Street. Bourda.  She was driving her motor cycle west along Croal Street and was paying no attention to the traffic ahead of him, she recalled.  Before the driver of the motor car quite realised what was happening, he had slammed into the woman and her cycle, causing her to land heavily on the road.
It was a miracle she was not killed on the spot, persons who witnessed the accident said, recalling that it was only her crash helmet that saved her.  However, as she hit the road, the helmet bounced and she suffered head injuries as well.
On the insistence of persons to her rescue, the driver of the motor car transported Harlequin to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation where she was treated and warded for one week.  During that period, he twice returned to hospital to see her.
On the first occasion he was present when a Guyana Chronicle Reporter, with no prior knowledge of the accident, attempted to speak with Harlequin to find out the nature of her injuries, with a view to publishing an article. However, the defaulting  motorist  created the impression he was a relative of the patient’s  and insisted there was no need for an investigation nor press publicity, and that ‘everything was being taken care of’.    The second time he turned up, Harlequin said, he was accompanied by a woman who verbally harassed her,  stating that if she felt she had ‘anything to get’ from the motorist, they would  pay whatever it took to get a lawyer to ensure she (the patient)  gets  nothing.
In a subsequent communication with her,  it became clear to her that he was just not interested in her and her state of ill health, but  was more inclined, and reluctantly so, to repair  her motor cycle. Harlequin claims she cannot  see the rationale in such a move, sine she is suffering physically, and may not even be able to use the motor cycle for another year,  since, she suffered a broken heel also.  Given the gravity of her injuries, the heavy set woman’s doctor issued strict instructions that she should not even attempt to stand on her feet for at least the next nine months.
“As a result, I have to do everything on my bed and the only time I get out is if I have to go to get dressings done.”  After a while she stopped having dressings done at the hospital, since it entailed hiring a car on every occasion and paying someone to lift her in and out of home and in and out of the hospital. That was both costly and stressful.    She now pays a nurse to do her dressings.
Meanwhile, all round, expenses are mounting since she’s been injured, and her budget is in disarray, Harlequin says, adding that she now has to pay to have things done that she would normally do herself.   Her husband, Rickford Harlequin  lives and works in another Caribbean Island, and her mother died about a year ago.  With only her two young sons – aged twelve and eight in the home to help her, the organisation of the home and family has gone through tremendous changes.
“It pains my heart to see things to be done in my home and I can’t do them.  Then there are times when my sons should not even enter my room, but I cannot get out of bed, and so I have to depend heavily upon them,” she said.
Renuka’s husband, Rickford travelled home a few weeks ago, to be with her.  She said she’s happy to have him home and he’s been of tremendous help to her, but the time has come for him to return to his job, especially since they have a lot of financial commitments home here.   Her biggest nightmare, she says is to have to continue her daily ordeal after he leaves.
And Rickford who is literally undergoing mental torture adds:   “It worries me to know that my wife is lying in this bed, going through this agony, and I have to leave her.  It also worries me that all his responsibility now falls on our two young sons who, who in fact been to be nurtured and helped in various ways,” he lamented.  The woman’s husband said he is not comfortable with some of the responsibilities his young children are now undertaking; adding that that some of it constitutes a violation of their cultural norms established in the home and can be equally embarrassing for their mother.   He is also very concerned about their education, and the set back they would suffer without the extra parental help during this phase.
The whole episode is very traumatic, Renuka summed up, recalling the sense of guilt she felt the day her children arrived at school late and found the gate locked.  They were forced to return home and missed school for that day.  She is also worried over the time it could possibly take for her to be fully recovered and implications for her continued employment in the Police Force.
Meanwhile, Rickford is hopeful that systems could be put in place to have someone hired to take care of his wife and the children until she recovers and can be back on her feet again.   But their budget at this time is grossly inadequate to take care of these new costs, in addition to the fixed demands.
After several attempts, she managed to get two representatives from the company where the  motorist who caused her injuries works, and held discussions with them, in her husband’s presence, but secured no firm commitment on anything discussed.
Meanwhile, the injured woman is asking those responsible for her injuries, to ’have a heart’ and to let justice not only be done, but appear to be done.