– Somersaulted off bicycle after being struck by car
AN elderly man yesterday morning sustained severe injuries and was rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital in an unconscious state, after being struck off the pedal cycle he was riding on Vlissengen Road in the city. The accident happened around 9:45 hrs, opposite the Shell Gas Station. The Octogenarian of Portuguese descent, who later gave his name as Norman Foulkes, 82, of Lot 20 Delph Street, Campbellville, was struck down by a white motor car PFF 7032, the power of which instantly cut his cycle in two, sending him somersaulting through the air, before landing heavily on the roadway, witnesses said.  Traffic along the busy thoroughfare was immediately brought to a standstill.

The elderly man was rushed to the GPHC where he was stabilized, but appeared to have suffered occasional memory loss, since he initially remembered his address, but was unable to give his name. X-Rays and scans were conducted, which determined that the victim suffered injuries to the head, right side jaw, forehead and ear, along with a broken left leg.

One eyewitness who was at the Gas Station at the time, recalled seeing the cyclist, moments before, riding along Barima Avenue, before turning left on to Vlissingen Road.

Ironically, the witness recalled, “The gentleman was ringing his bell for a pedestrian to get out of the way.”  Momentarily he lost sight of him. “It was only when I heard the screeching that I realized that he was on the opposite side of the road,” the witness said.

The witness said, too, that when he saw the man again, after hearing the impact, he was bleeding profusely from the head, and this was substantiated by the blood on the road where the accident occurred.

Another witness to the accident added that he was driving along Vlissingen Road when he heard the impact. “I heard the sound and when I checked my rearview mirror, I saw the bicycle spinning in the air,” he recounted.

This newspaper was unable to ascertain whether the driver of the car, PFF 7032, sustained any injuries, but when the Guyana Chronicle arrived on the scene, the victim’s broken bicycle was strewn to the side of the road along with parts of the motor car.

Contacted at the hospital ward later in the day, Mr. Foulkes who was writhing in pain, recalled that he had, shortly before, left his Delph Street home and was going to visit a friend in Forshaw Street, Queenstown when tragedy struck. He said the accident happened as he was about riding off of Vlissengen Road and onto a bridge which would take him over to the head of Forshaw Street.

He is grateful that his life was spared, but is now contemplating what would be his future state of health.