SIXTY-four-year-old Brian Aubrey Anthony Devine, injured in the New Year’s morning accident on Cemetery Road that claimed the life of George Barker, 61, remains in critical condition at the Accident Ward of the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC), but he is conscious and communicating with persons at his bedside.Devine, who along with Barker had gone to buy newspapers at a newsstand on Cemetery Road, was rammed from behind by an out-of-control motorcar PNN 7977, a Toyota AT 192, and ended up being badly injured and lying in a nearby drain.

His injuries include three broken ribs on the left rib cage; compound fractures to both of his legs; head and spinal injuries; injuries to his left side jaw; left ear and left eye. He has since lost vision in that eye, which continues to bleed as a result of the injuries he has suffered to his head.

Having experienced difficulty breathing, he has been administered oxygen, and has since been given two units of blood. He was also given a Computed Tomography (CT) scan, the results of which will be made known to his relatives soon.

The Lot 30 Cockrite Street, East La Penitence resident related to the Sunday Chronicle that he and his friend, George Baker had gone to the newsstand on Cemetery Road to buy the daily newspapers, where they met a young woman who said she was asked to sell papers in the absence of the vendor who had gone to the market. She explained that she had forgotten to collect the keys to open up the stand, and asked them to wait while she went to get the keys.
Devine said he and his friend Baker were ‘gaffing’ as they waited when suddenly they heard a noise and looked around to see a motorcar approaching at a terrific speed. It hit a speed hump next to a nursery school, and came plummeting towards them. Impulsively, Baker pushed Devine out of the way, or he would have been killed instantly; but the car toppled and came back towards them.

“If you see how this man turn…like if is a war going on… I tell you, he got to be a mad man,” Devine declared.
“Ah holler, ‘Oh Gawd, a gon dead’, then blacked out,” he said.

Devine said he was rammed from behind and was hit really hard. He likened it to literally “a nightmare at dawn.” The vehicle hurled him through the air, and he landed in a nearby drain, he recalled, but his friend Baker ended up trapped under the vehicle.
Fortunately, the accident happened a short distance from the police outpost, and the police came to the men’s rescue and rushed them to the GPHC. Even though Baker was able to initially communicate with rescuers and give the police his name, he succumbed before arriving at the hospital.
Devine said that on learning that his friend had succumbed, he took it hard, and developed difficulty breathing and went into what he perceived to be a coma. He had to be given oxygen.
Having suffered compound fractures to the legs, bleeding from the eyes and other broken bones, he was given a blood transfusion.
Devine conceded that had the young woman not left the newsstand to go for the keys, she would also have been hit and possibly killed by the vehicle. The car was said to have hit and demolished a nearby fruit stand before ending up in a trench off Cemetery Road.
Through it all, Brian Aubrey Anthony Devine asserts, “But ah lucky to be alive!” He is giving God thanks and praises, and also thanks to his rescuers and the medical staff at the GPHC.
The motorist initially fled the scene, but was apprehended and taken into custody by police. However, 72 hours having elapsed, he was released on bail and is expected to appear in court tomorrow, according to Devine’s niece, Donna Waldron. (Shirley Thomas)