Van driver in Vryheid’s Lust crash worried about family’s welfare

Khemraj Singh rests in his hospital bed during a visit from his relative Surujbally Singh.

Khemraj Singh the man who was seriously injured in an early morning fatal crash two Saturdays ago is anxious about his family’s welfare as he remains an in-patient at the Georgetown Hospital nursing two broken legs.

Khemraj Singh rests in his hospital bed during a visit from his relative Surujbally Singh.

Singh, 46, of Buxton Sideline Dam, told Stabroek News at the hospital on Thursday that he is the breadwinner of his family of four. According to his wife, Amrita Singh, “He is the person that support the home and everything.”

The couple are parents to two girls in their twenties but the younger girl is still attending school. “Ah getting lil help from the big one,” Amrita said as she sat at her husband’s bedside.

Amrita says that doctors told them “he foot break up” and that he may have to undergo another operation. Singh had undergone a six hour operation when he was first taken to the hospital. “Me deh in this position hey…me can’t use me foot is like you is a child again,” Singh said; his wife added that he liked to do things for himself.

On July 31, around 3.55 am on the Vryheid’s Lust Public Road, East Coast Demerara (ECD) a motor van driven by Khemraj Singh and a car collided resulting in the death of the driver of the car, Ravi Singh, a police press release had said. Khemraj Singh and four other persons were injured after the collision.

A relative who had been visiting him at the hospital, Surujbally Singh said that he had been asleep in the van at the time of the incident and could not recall what happened. “I been sleeping in the front seat when the bus jam then I jump up and get hard hit in my stomach,” Surujbally said. He was treated and discharged from hospital. However, the man said he has been experiencing chest pains and had been visiting the Mahicony hospital for treatment.

Meanwhile, Shanti Persaud, 32, of Vigilance, ECD who was also a passenger in the van and who suffered a fractured leg told Stabroek News via telephone that she cannot walk yet and “the foot swelling.” “I can’t do anything fuh meself right now,” she said, adding that she planned to visit a health centre for further treatment. Persaud said they were all heading to buy fish when the accident occurred but she cannot recall any details about the smash-up. A single mother of five, Persaud was uncertain what her next move would be and where to turn for help as she cannot work with her injury. She said her children ages 13, 12, 10, six and four are all on holiday from school and are receiving assistance from her relatives but when school reopens, “Well, me nah really know yet.”