A 60-year-old gold mining prospector, struck down and pinned by a falling hardwood tree at Black Water in the Cuyuni, is convinced beyond reasonable doubt that it was miracle performed by God that he is alive today. He is also thankful that he was able to promptly muster up $400,000 to pay his air-travel costs from Black Water to the Georgetown Public Hospital, or he might not have rallied out, waiting to accumulate cash.
The victim, Earle John, who hails from Sophia, Greater Georgetown, but works at Eteringbang, after being rescued, was air-dashed to the city and transported to the Georgetown Public Hospital by ambulance. He was admitted to the institution nursing injuries to his head, back, a broken upper femur (upper right leg) and five broken ribs – three on the right and two on the left side.
John, whose condition was fairly stable yesterday, related his tragic experience to the Guyana Chronicle. He recalled that on Tuesday around 9:30 hrs, he was standing at the roadside at Black Water, waiting for his daughter, when the incident happened.
At that time, there were two Brazilian nationals working in the area – one was an equipment operator felling trees with an excavator and the other, a service man assisting him.
John recalled that as work proceeded, the excavator targeted and pushed a tree, but by a dint of misfortune it bounced, turned around and struck another tree, bringing it down on him with all its might. The branches of the tree struck the hapless miner on the head, back and ribcage, and pinned his right leg to the ground. He lost consciousness momentarily.
On seeing what had happened, the two Brazilian workers rushed to his rescue, but had difficulty getting him out from under the tree. They quickly went in search of their colleagues and with additional assistance managed to lift him down to the waterside to get him transported by boat to San Martin, a few miles away. It cost him a whopping $120,000 to St. Martin, which fortunately he was able to pay. He was later transported to Eteringbang where he spent the night at the Police Outpost until he was able to muster up another $275,000 to charter a flight out to Ogle and still more cash to be transported to the city by a private ambulance.
John recalls that it cost him $401,000 to get from the point of injury to hospital in Georgetown, and he shuddered at the thought of what might have been his fate if he couldn’t pay up.
Meanwhile, he suffered excruciating pains over the two and a half days he waited to be seen by a doctor and finally on Thursday he arrived at the GPHC where he was triaged, X-rayed and treated by a doctor.
On account of his leg having been swollen considerably, it has not yet been placed in cast, but he continues to receive medical treatment for which he is grateful. Having suffered debilitating injuries to his body, he will very likely be hospitalized for the next several weeks, but in the meantime, he is unable to stand or sit up.
However, the injured miner has another story to tell about being grossly under-compensated by the Brazilians for the debilitating injuries they caused him. However, John insisted that he did not take the paltry penny they gave him as compensation, but out of desperation, since he urgently needed to raise $401,000 in order to reach the Georgetown Public Hospital in an emergency.

By Shirley Thomas