Grieving mother warns against drunk driving

“AFTER 22 years of pain and suffering, losing almost even the rest of my family, I am still opening the newspaper, listening to the television and radio and hearing the reports of so many more who are killed almost every day on our roads.”
These are the words of a tear-stained and shaken Lucille Bacchus who lost both of her children in November 1996, due to the actions of a drunk driver.

“They are not stopping; I do not know what is going to stop these people from driving with all that speed and sometimes they are drunk; that is the worst thing – those who are driving drunk on the road, they are the worse killers and I do not know what would stop them,” she said.

Bacchus says that she is now celebrating the death anniversary of her son, Wallie Bacchus, who was just 17 years old and her daughter, Fareena Bacchus, who was only 16 at the time they were killed.

Bacchus tearfully told the Pepperpot Magazine that they would have been 39 and 38 years respectively, and may have had their own family and career at this time.

She said that according to the post-mortem reports her son, Wallie, died on the day of the accident, on November 16, as a result of multiple internal injuries. These included severed intestines, broken pelvis, damaged liver and spleen.

However, what could have been considered double pain was the fact that her daughter, who was the younger of the two, suffered for 10 additional days and died on November 26, 1996. She was taken to Trinidad and underwent brain surgery, but died from kidney failure two days later.

The driver of the vehicle was eventually released from prison after spending only 16 months of a three-year sentence imposed on him on January 21, 1999.

PEOPLE DO NOT UNDERSTAND
Bacchus said that her two children were on a motorcycle returning home to Lusignan when a drunken driver overtook another vehicle and hit them in the process. They had gone to a friend’s home at a neighbouring village – Enmore to collect a book because their lives were centered on their education.

“My daughter had just finished St. Joseph High School and the boy had just finished The Bishop’s High School; they were thinking of moving on with their careers when their lives were taken away from them,” Bacchus said.

PLEADING WITH DRIVERS
Bacchus said that she is pleading with drivers all over the country to think before they drink and drive. She said that life for the families and loved ones of those who die as a result of accidents on the road does not end with the accident.

“People sorrow with you; they cry and all. Many come around for nights and days, bringing food, money or whatever they can. They say all sorts of things and are even there with you at the burial. But after all is said and done they have to go to their own homes with their own families. Some of them may remember you from time to time, but essentially you are left alone to grieve and feel your pain all by yourself,” she remarked. “Drivers please, I am begging you. You do not know and understand the pain and suffering you cause…Please stop the carnage on the roads.”