Lives broken by accident

In a fleeting moment a life can be snuffed out, or devastating injuries result in physical disabilities.
Ian Singh and Neil Francis know that pain and trauma only too well as they have been forced to mend their broken lives after vehicular accidents. Singh lost his 13-year-old son, Sachin, in an accident which claimed the lives of four other people at Mosquito Creek last year. Francis, a well-loved barber in Woodbrook, lost his sight in a vehicular crash.

A father’s nightmare
Cricket was Sachin’s love, Singh said, as he shared memories of his youngest son.
On August 15, 2009, a trip to the “Balls of Fire” cricket match ended in tragedy when Sachin and four of his friends lost their lives along the South Trunk Road, near the Shore of Peace at Mosquito Creek.
According to eyewitnesses, at around 1 pm on that fateful day, a Jusamco dump truck driven by Balton Banwell suddenly swerved and ploughed into the van in which Sachin and others were travelling.
Sachin, eight, a pupil of Avocat Vedic School, and Rajesh Ramnarine, 38, a machine operator at SM Jaleel were killed on impact.

Fabricator Rishi Ramlochan, 22, and 15-year-old Rajkumar Deonarine succumbed to their injuries at the San Fernando General Hospital.  “It has not been easy. Everyday I grieve because the pain is just as strong as it was on the first day,” he said. He tries to get past the pain of that loss by burying himself in his work. In fact, on what would have been Sachin's 14th birthday on December 9, Singh had to keep himself occupied to keep from breaking down. “That day was like reliving the entire experience again. I went to work and tried not to think about the accident. But then I came home and all the pictures of Sachin were there, on the wall, on the space saver.

“I have some of his clothes in a drawer that is partly broken and when I came home I saw the clothes... I know I have to get rid of them but I cannot get around to do so,” said Singh, who is employed as the driver of an armoured vehicle. Singh, who born with a defective valve in his heart, tires easily and was never able to fully participate in his sons’ lives. However, after undergoing open-heart surgery, Singh said he is now “bursting with energy.”

“After the surgery all I wanted to do was be there for my boys and for Sachin... I felt I was given another lease on life and I now had the energy to do all that I wanted to do,” he said. Singh said he often wished that God had taken his life instead. “After the surgery, I thanked God for sparing my life, only to lose my son and now to live with this tragedy,” he said.  “I often tell God that I have already lived my life and He should have taken me instead... Sachin had his entire life ahead of him.”

Singh said he now comforts himself with the thought that God took Sachin because he wanted more angels in Heaven. “I know my son is in a better place and he is looking down on me... But despite everything I still feel an emptiness,” he added.

Shattered dreams
Francis, 36, who lost his vision five years ago, vividly remembers that fateful day when his world plunged into darkness. After a long day of work one Friday, Francis left his place of employment, Wesley’s Salon, and went to St James with friends to have a couple of beers. While driving along Ariapita Avenue to drop a friend home at Cascade, fatigue set in, Francis said. He and his friend were not wearing seat belts. The last thing he remembered was a head-on collision.

“I hit the ridge of the windscreen and it lacerated my two eyes... My two eyes were like two flat tyres,” he said.  “I thought it was my forehead. I was normal, I didn’t break a fingernail, I didn’t even get a fractured bone.”  He said he came out his car and walked around. “But the only thing was I could not see...I thought it was blood in my eyes not knowing my two eyes were severed,” Francis said. The mistake of not wearing a seat belt has led to a lifetime of regrets.

“If only I was wearing my seat belt that day then I wouldn’t be in this position... It has been a serious challenge and it is hurtful,” he said. “Many people who call themselves my friends have walked away but my family was strong,” Francis said. He lost his right eye and doctors have given up on him regaining any vision in his left eye. “I lost my right eye totally,” he said.  “My left eye...there was some scarring on the retina and I see shadows and silhouettes, but it is very blurry.”

Dismissing notions that drinking and driving may have played a factor in the accident, Francis said fatigue made him fall asleep at the wheel. Francis is active in cricket and works closely with many organisations, including Arrive Alive, urging people to always wear seat belts. Sharon Inglefield also struggles to fill a void in her life caused by a car accident. Her only son, Jonathan, died on February 11, 2009, at the West Moorings intersection. A car travelling east broke the traffic light and slammed into Jonathan’s car. Jonathan who was 25, got out of his car and inspected the damage. Minutes later he was in an ambulance, bleeding and vomiting.

“He didn’t have a scratch on him but he suffered massive internal injures and he was bleeding from the spine and liver,” Inglefield said. In the face of such grief how does one cope? Inglefield, vice-president of Arrive Alive, said her son’s death had made her into a more caring and compassionate person and she wanted to meet the driver who caused the accident. “I want to tell him that I forgive him because this is something that he now has to live with.”