By Shirley Thomas

WEEDER Mark Anthony, a 39-year-old father of five of Uitvlugt, West Coast Demerara, was last Wednesday seriously injured in a hit-and-run accident allegedly caused by a motorist on the West Coast Demerara Public Road.He is now warded at the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPHC) with multiple injuries: a fractured left leg, injuries to his head, broken jaws, cuts to his chin and above his eyes, and other abrasions about his body. All his front teeth have been knocked out as well.

With his strapped jaw making speaking difficult, Anthony told the Guyana Chronicle that he was going to do a weeding job at Vergenoegen, EBE, and was riding his pedal cycle with his weeding machine strapped to his bike when tragedy struck.

The injured man cannot now recall the name of the village where the accident occurred, but recalls that the motorist, who had approached from behind, ploughed into him, knocking him off his cycle. He said that in what seemed like a somersault, he landed on the top of the car, and his machine also became entangled. Anthony said the motorist got out of the car, and instead of coming to his assistance, busied himself hustling to detach the cycle from his car.

However, a medical doctor who was driving by at the time witnessed what had happened and hurried to the injured man’s assistance. As the doctor turned his attention to rendering first-aid to the injured man, the motorist jumped into his motor car and sped away.

However, the doctor is said to have noted the offending driver’s vehicle number, and he quickly phoned the police, who immediately mobilised ranks to go in search of the motorist. He was apprehended and charged. He spent about five days in the lock-ups and was released on bail on Sunday.