Men rushed to hospital after smashup at Villa

With broken bones, internal bleeding and bruises about their bodies, Redemption Sharpes residents Sherman Soleyn and Rawlton Ragguette remain patients at the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital (MCMH), following a vehicular accident that left the car they were traveling in totally wrecked.{{more}}

Described as one of the most horrible accidents in recent times, the crash, which occurred on Tuesday, February 21, along the Villa public road, saw Soleyn’s Toyota Corolla car, P588, crashing into a white Toyota Noah van – H192 owned by Stedford Thomas.

During a visit to the MCMH on Wednesday, Ragguette, the passenger in Soleyn’s vehicle, told SEARCHLIGHT that they were travelling towards Kingstown when “the car brakes seem to stop working.”

“He tried slamming it (the car) in the wall. After he slammed it on the wall, the momentum caused the car to overturn and hit a van.

“A lot of persons came to our assistance. Some even came with equipment to get us out of the car.

“I was real scared, because when I got the blow from the accident I was trembling,”

Grateful to God for saving his life, Ragguette revealed that he suffered a broken right wrist, and bruises about his body. He also disclosed that he had undergone surgery to remove clotted blood from his chest.

Still in pain and with a swollen face, Soleyn, the driver of the vehicle, said that since the accident, he has been passing blood through his mouth.

“I’m still in pain and can’t say much, but I thank God I’m alive,” was as much as the injured man could utter.

Meanwhile, Stedford Thomas, the other individual involved in the accident, says he is still in shock over what transpired.

Thomas, a taxi operator at the ET Joshua Airport, told SEARCHLIGHT that at about 3:30 p.m.,he was on his way home when he experienced “the worst accident he’s been involved in.”

“I was driving at a normal pace of 30 to 40 miles per hour when I saw the vehicle strike the wall, and I slowed down and came to an immediate stop.

“I stopped and watched it (Soleyn’s car) coming to me, because I couldn’t do nothing. I just had to sit back in my vehicle and brace myself while the car struck my van.”

Thomas said that he was alone in his vehicle.

“I sat there for five minutes in my van shocked. After I caught myself, I saw people running and heard one the men from the car calling, ‘Help, help’.

“It was then I rolled back my van to see them… When I rolled back, I saw their hands hanging down and blood dropping out from the car,” he added.

Thomas said persons who were passing stopped to assist the injured men who were at the time trapped in the vehicle.

“They had to turn over the car in order to get the two of them out.”

The roof of the car, according to Thomas, had to be cut off, in order for the men to be freed from the wrecked vehicle.

The man who led the rescue mission is Geogory Harry of Calliaqua, SEARCHIGHT has been informed.

“If he had stayed there more than 20 minutes, he would have died, because he was bleeding through his mouth and had a large swelling to his head,” Thomas said, referring to Soleyn.

The two injured men were taken to the MCMH by Anthony Bacchus, president of the Omnibus Association, and owner and driver of the omnibus Code Red.

Thomas did not sustain any visible injuries, but said he has been experiencing minor pains in his stomach since the collision. He, however, said he plans to visit a doctor to have a medical check done.

Police are carrying out investigations into the cause of the accident. (AA)