SHADWEL Alexander, 34, of 130 Laing Avenue, narrowly escaped death last Friday when the motorcycle he was riding along Eccles Public Road, East Bank Demerara, was rear-ended by a motor vehicle, sending him flying under a motorcar.

The accident took place around 22:30 hrs, at the traffic light opposite Two Brothers Gas Station, and fortunately for him the car under which he found himself was stationary, waiting for the green signal at the traffic light.
At the time Alexander, who is employed at Techno Rice Mill, was on his way to work just a few rods away. Immediately after being hit, his rear wheel blew out and the impact hurled him through the air and under the motor car. He could not say in what direction his pillion rider ended up.
However, Alexander suffered a burst right eye, which has been shifted out of line; a gaping cut on his forehead; injuries to both hands and minor abrasions.
However, the errant driver who rear-ended him fled the scene without even attempting to find out what injuries he had suffered. Persons who witnessed the accident summoned the police and he was taken to the Diamond Hospital.
But at the hospital, according to Alexander, he was shocked to find that the scenario there was a “much of a muchness.” The patient said there was only one doctor on duty, one security guard, no nurses and an ambulance with no driver. On hearing his story, the doctor told him he was lucky to be alive.
He recalled being deposited in the treatment room where he was surprised that close to two hours had elapsed and he was still lying in a pool of blood and in pain without any medical attention.
“In all meh pain, I had to call out before the doctor come back to me,” he said. It was then he learnt that there was no driver for the ambulance so the Diamond Hospital had to send to Georgetown Public Hospital for an ambulance to take him to that institution for emergency medical care.
When the doctor observed the extent to which he was bleeding, he hastily sutured up the forehead and had him wait for the ambulance. It was a good thing that it did arrive since in addition to Alexander and his pillion rider, there was a pregnant woman and another patient for emergency treatment. They were all cramped into the one ambulance and set out for the GPHC, arriving there after midnight.

(By Shirley Thomas)