– three discharged from hospital

THE eight women who were injured by a falling tree at the Success squatting area on the East Coast of Demerara (ECD) are pleading with the authorities to provide some assistance to them and their families.

One of the injured women, who has since been discharged from the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) and returned to Success, highlighted that since the lands were waterlogged, she had been residing in a tent on the front dam.

“We went under the tent and as we hear the crack on the tree, we ain’t had no time to move. It fall down right away on we,” the woman, who did not provide her name, recollected. She sustained minor injuries and was recently discharged from the hospital with two other women.

The three women have returned to the Success squatting area and have been residing in a makeshift structure put together by residents to ensure that they have a bit of comfort. However, they are requesting that some assistance be provided to them and their families.

The Guyana Chronicle understands that the five women still in the hospital have more serious injuries; one woman is in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

This newspaper understands that one of the injured women, Jamicia (only name given), a mother of four, has an injured spine and a broken shin; another, Dallyann, has a fractured jaw, a dislocated shoulder and a fractured ankle. The other two women have neck and back injuries.

Junior (only name given), a male squatter at Success, usually visits these injured women daily. He highlighted that they are in great pain, and they too, are pleading for any assistance that can be provided to them.

According to reports received by this newspaper, at 14:10 hours on Friday, a huge tree, which is located on an east-west dam, collapsed on a group of squatters who were conversing nearby. Eight women were injured, including one who has since been in intensive care.

This dam is located at one of the entrances to the squatting area; an area that comprises canefields and belongs to the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo). At this entrance, there are a few makeshift structures where many squatters congregate daily. There are small shops located here as well. At the time of the incident, the Guyana Chronicle understands, some of the women were sitting and chatting.