Survivors thank God for sparing their lives
–also thank all who contributed to their survival

THIRTY-two-year-old Ivor Williams, of 19 Coldingen, East Coast Demerara; and Troy Daniels, 41, of Bachelors’ Adventure, East Coast Demerara, who were injured in Tuesday’s plane crash in Arau in Region Seven, yesterday remained in serious condition at the Male Surgical Ward of the Georgetown Public Hospital.

Captain Bernard Singh, who was piloting the downed aircraft and suffered injuries to his head, face and eyes, and Leon Bristol, also with head injuries and other abrasions about the body, were discharged from hospital on Wednesday, with instructions to return to be examined by doctors at specified dates.

The still hospitalized Williams suffered a broken left leg, a dislocated right hip-bone, injuries to his face and head, and incapacitation of his right hand from the lower shoulder down. He is also complaining of pain in his left upper shoulder.

Troy Daniels, also still hospitalized, suffered fractures to both hips, and had to have hip replacement therapy. He is unable to turn his head from side to side, and is complaining of severe pains in the neck and spinal area.

Although either man can hardly speak, each has found enough voice to give abundant praise to the Almighty for life spared in face of a disaster of such magnitude.
The survivors are also expressing gratitude to the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority, the Guyana Defence Force search-and-rescue team, and medical personnel at the Georgetown Hospital for all that each has contributed to their continued survival.

Ironically, Ivor Williams, who has been engaged in mining activities at Arau ever since January, was making a trip home to the city to see a doctor, since he has been unwell of late. According to relatives at his bedside, little could he have imagined that his visit to the doctor on arrival in the city would have been for an absolutely unrelated health impairment.

On the morning of March 18, Williams left camp all excited about reuniting with his wife and two sons, aged seven and one, and about seeing his mother and other relatives. His boss-man, who prefers to be unnamed, claimed that the engine of the aircraft suddenly ‘conked out’ (malfunctioned), resulting in the craft falling out of the skies with pilot and three passengers aboard. The plane landed atop a mountain in a savannah land, and the survivors are grateful to God that it did not land in a rocky terrain, for it might have exploded, with catastrophic consequences.

Fortunately, even as the craft was descending, the pilot kept a level head and was able to send out ‘May Day’ (distress) calls from his satellite phone to the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), which immediately activated its ‘search and rescue’ co-ordination centre, and the Guyana Defence Force readily dispatched a helicopter and medical personnel in search of the downed 6-seater aircraft, Registration # N87619.

(By Shirley Thomas)