…doctor issues referral following advice by police

FOLLOWING the advice of police traffic ranks, a six-year-old child, who was ‘ran-over’ by an intoxicated official of the Matarkai Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC), is scheduled to receive treatment in the city, after she complained of severe pain in her head.
The accident occurred at Matthew’s Ridge on Friday night.

On Friday night, Shemika Griffith was in the company of her grandmother, walking back to their home from a shop, around 20:30 hours, when they heard the sound of a motorcycle in the distance.

The child’s grandmother, Sonia Griffith, said that she heard the motorcycle and since it was raining at the time, she told her granddaughter to cross the roadway and walk in the corner. She said soon after, she saw the motorcycle approaching at a fast rate and seconds later, the man rode into the child. The child was rushed to the hospital but was discharged.
Reports are that, on Saturday evening, the child was taken back to the hospital at Matthew’s Ridge, after she complained for pains to her head. Reports are that the child was subsequently admitted to the hospital by medical staff there.

On Monday, this publication was told that traffic ranks investigating the accident noticed the child’s face was swollen as well as cuts to her head which she sustained during the accident. As such the officers told the doctor stationed at the Matthew’s Ridge Hospital that the child needs urgent treatment. It was then that the referral was made and the injured child is expected to travel to the city today.

According to reports, the NDC official has been trying to contact the family to settle the matter; however, Griffith’s family refused the man’s offer.

The child’s grandmother told the Guyana Chronicle that as persons came to their rescue at the scene of the accident, the man, who allegedly is not the holder of a driver’s licence, told residents that he was “untouchable” due to him being a member of an Opposition party. He reportedly told residents that nothing will come out of the case. “He said nobody can do him anything,” the child’s grandmother related.

The man was seen earlier in the afternoon imbibing at a shop in the area.
When the child was initially taken to the Matthew’s Ridge Hospital, to the family’s horror, a nurse informed them that no doctor was on duty and that the injuries the child sustained were minor. As such, she sent them away.

The family is now awaiting word from the police on the investigations into the accident.