OWEN Harry, 31, of Carmichael Street, Georgetown and James Gomes, 44, of Crown Dam, Industry, ECD, two employees of a small-scale gold mining company operating at Issano, Region Seven, are now warded with life-threatening injuries at the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH), where they are being treated after being involved in an accident along the Issano Trail on Thursday, January 9, at about 12:30hrs.

Three other persons who suffered less severe injuries in that accident were treated at the GPHC and sent home.
Harry was driving a pickup which crashed into a tree, resulting in injuries to the five-member party. He suffered a fractured neck, cuts over the eyes, and other injuries to the head and face. His neck has been fitted with a C-Collar, and his head has been stabilized using a steel device, the purpose of which is to avoid friction and possible injury to the spinal cord. Harry is expected to remain in that condition for the next several weeks.
James Gomes has suffered two broken ribs and a punctured lung. The men are both under doctors’ close medical watch.
Harry, who was conscious and speaking in a limited way when visited by the Sunday Chronicle, recalled that the accident happened at around 12:30hrs on Thursday. He said it was not until around 22:00hrs that night that they were eventually removed from the scene, reaching the Mackenzie Hospital at around 13:00hrs the following day (Friday).
At that hospital, they were cleaned up, stabilized and X-rayed, then transferred to the GPHC by ambulance.
Recounting the accident, Harry said he had travelled to Issano from Georgetown last Monday to become a member of a mining crew; and on Thursday, was on his way to 72 Miles with four others on board when tragedy struck.

Strange attack
He said he was driving normally, conversing with the others on board when suddenly he experienced what he considers “a strange attack”, and he impulsively let go of the steering wheel and struggled to free himself, shouting, “Get this thing off of me!” One of the men thrust forward to take command of the steering wheel, but it was too late, as the pick-up crashed into a tree.
The trail was lonely, he said, since mining crews have not yet returned to work in full force following the Christmas holidays.
According to him, there was, fortunately, another vehicle at the work site, and that was used to remove them from the wreckage, but it was not an easy task.

Walked five hours
The men mobilized themselves, took on specific tasks, and set out to seek help. One  man was left to watch the two badly injured ones, while the two others (with minor injuries) set out on a five-hour trek back to the worksite to get the parked pick-up to take them out to hospital.
Having picked up the vehicle from the camp site, the men returned to the scene of the accident and picked up Harry, Gomes and the third man keeping watch, then set out for Mackenzie (Linden), since it was not possible for the ambulance to get to them.
Using the Omai Crossing, they commenced what turned to be a long, rough and painful journey to the Mackenzie Hospital, eventually getting there at around 13:00hrs the following day (Friday).
Throughout the journey, they did not encounter even one vehicle plying that route.
It was like a breath of fresh air when they finally arrived at the Linden hospital. Harry said that, throughout the ordeal, he felt severe pains, but had no idea how serious his injuries and those sustained by Gomes were.  Now that he understands that he has suffered a fractured neck, he is giving abundant thanks and praises to God, considering that with the kind of jerks and bumps they experienced on their way to the hospital, he did not suffer injuries to his spinal cord.
“It was really rough, and each time the vehicle jerked, my pains intensified. Only God knows how I made it through,” he concluded.
Gomes too, is thanking God for spared life, and that their surgeries would be successful.
Meanwhile, persons plying that route have, time and again, commented on the need for systems to be put in place to facilitate better communication between persons travelling the long and dangerous route and the Mahdia Police Station and other communities along the way between Issano and Linden.