Layou accident leaves boy, 5, dead, another 4, hospitalised

One boy lost his life, while another is a patient at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital (MCMH) after they were involved in a road traffic accident on Wednesday morning in Layou.{{more}}

Jovel Glasgow, 5, and Lenroy Adams, 4, were on their way home, after bathing in the river, when they were hit by a vehicle, while trying to cross the road.

According to reports, the children were transported immediately to the MCMH in Kingstown.

When SEARCHLIGHT visited the hospital around 10:30 a.m., a small crowd was waiting tensely outside of one of the operating theatres.

We were told that the children were undergoing surgery.

Although very distraught, Neka Glasgow, mother of Jovel, was able to explain what had transpired earlier that morning.

“The children went to the river go bathe this morning,” she said shakily.

“A truck been park up and I ask the driver if everything clear. He tell me no. I ask him again and he say everything clear”.

Glasgow stated that as the children were crossing the road, a vehicle came at the same time.

“It lift the two of them up, up in the air. The two of them go up and drop back down on the ground,” the distraught mother said.

Glasgow, whose eyes were red from crying, told SEARCHLIGHT that she was not aware of her son’s current condition.

“I saw them pass with my son with a thing [a]round he neck, a tube down he throat,” she said sadly.

Casita Glasgow, Glasgow’s sister and Lenroy’s mother, leaned on a wall as she told her story.

The mother of seven explained that she had sent one of her daughters and Lenroy to bathe with their cousins as she went to prepare things for him to go to school.

“When me dey down dey, me hear something lash…when I look, I see me sister dey ah run and bawl,” she said.

With tears pooling in her eyes, Casita recounted seeing her son lying in the road with his intestines protruding from his stomach. She stated that she went for the boy’s father and when she returned, they had already taken her child away to the hospital.

The four-year-old’s father, Randolph Adams, could barely find words to speak as he waited for news on his young son.

“I can’t even express my feelings right now,” the farmer said, after taking a few deep breaths.

Maxwell Charles, parliamentary representative for Central Leeward and Minister of National Reconciliation, was at the hospital to console his grieving constituents.

“I just want to be with them in their time of grief,” he told SEARCHLIGHT.

“I’m feeling very sad because I know what it’s like to have a child who has been injured and my feelings go out to them”.

It was stated that the children were in critical condition as one sustained injuries to his head while the other boy’s intestines were protruding from his stomach.

Police confirmed later on Wednesday that Jovel had succumbed to his injuries, while Lenroy remains a patient at the MCMH.

Rae-ann McDowall, a 24-year-old public relations clerk, driver of motor vehicle, PS 491, is assisting the police with investigations into the circumstances of the traffic accident.

A report from the Police Public Relations Department said a post mortem is to be carried out on the deceased child to determine the cause of death.

The death of the Layou youngster brings to two, the number of road fatalities so far, for the year. On March 4, four-month-old Peter Samuel died in a minibus accident along the Dauphine main road. (BK)