By Vanessa Braithwaite

THE two  survivors, both women, of last Wednesday’s smash-up on the Soesdyke-Linden Highway are said to be coming around, albeit slowly.While 23-year-old Whitney Griffith has been discharged from the Linden Hospital Complex after being treated for a broken hand and dislocated hip, she had to be rushed back to the hospital after complaining of severe headaches.
Her mother, Dianne Plowell, told the Guyana Chronicle on Sunday that it was on her return to the hospital that it was detected that Whitney had also suffered head injuries, as, by then, her head had become inflamed.

She was, however, not admitted. Dianne happily revealed that Whitney’s five-month-old foetus is in perfect health, and has not been affected in any way.
Dianne also told the media that when Whitney learnt that her husband, 25-year-old Dextroy Griffith, had died in the accident, she told her that the only reason she’s alive is because he tried to shield her from the oncoming impact.

“My daughter told me, ‘Mommy, when I catch meself after the collision, Dextroy was covering me with his body, and he had his arms around me,’” Dianne said.
She also said that while Whitney is currently experiencing physical pain — as is only to be expected –nothing can compare to the mental and emotional anguish she must be feeling, having lost her newly wed husband without even getting the chance to say goodbye.
It’s a pain she and their five and three-year-old children will always have to live with as they mourn his loss.

As for 47-year-old Arletta Kellman of Lower Kara Kara, also in Linden, who unfortunately had no one to shield her, she was admitted to the Linden Hospital Complex in a more critical condition.
She was later transferred to the Georgetown Public Hospital , where she remains a patient, having suffered several broken limbs, including her foot.

She also had to undergo surgery, since she needed to have steel implanted in some parts of her body. According to a relative of hers, Kellman had also needed blood, which proved difficult to find since her blood group is a rare one.
Kellman was seated in one of the back passenger seats of the red Toyota Spacio, HC 5326, when the accident occurred. According to reports, the driver, Alexander Dave Primus, who died on spot, was heading south when he attempted to overtake a lorry in the vicinity of Loo Creek.

In doing so, he collided with motor car PRR 7151, driven by 38-year-old Raul Aaron, who also perished.
According to eyewitnesses, Primus, a usually careful driver, had not bargained for a second vehicle in front of the one he was about to overtake, and so was unable to return to his lane on time before the collision occurred.

Also dead is 22-year-old Leron Mendonca, Primus’s nephew, who was travelling in the front passenger seat of the Toyota Spacio.
He died while undergoing surgery at the Linden Hospital Complex on Thursday morning.