– badly injured driver wants compensation
Zaitoon Hoosein, whose 10-year-old daughter was killed in the accident at Harlem, West Coast Demerara that also claimed the life of former police commissioner Henry Greene, has lost her memory of the ordeal and thinks the girl is still alive.
Hoosein, 26, of Adelphi, East Canje, suffered head and hip injuries in the September 7, 2012 accident, in which Greene’s SUV slammed into the vehicle she was travelling in with her daughter, Shaffiyah Jamaluddin.
As a result, she has lost her memory and does not even know that she was involved in an accident. The woman, who has been staying at her mother’s house at Fyrish, Corentyne, believes that she “fall sick just so” and that she is not seeing her daughter because “she staying with she father to go to school,” Stabroek News was told.
Hoosein and Jamaluddin were travelling to Utivtlugt along with Raheem Kaleem, 45, of Canefield, East Canje, his wife, Shamoon and their sons, Reeaz and Fawaaz, when the accident occurred.
They were heading west along the road around 9.10 am when the white SUV, PLL 7411, driven by Greene, 58 and travelling in the opposite direction, veered suddenly into their path.
According to police, after Greene collided with the car, his vehicle then collided with a Bakewell truck, GJJ 9067, which was traversing behind the car. Reports are that the car spun around and ended up on the parapet.
Persons from all three vehicles were pulled from the wreckages and rushed to the West Demerara Regional Hospital (WDRH), where Greene and the child were pronounced dead on arrival.
Kaleem, a mechanic, spent 15 days in the High Dependency Unit of the Georgetown Public Hospital and he was discharged on Monday. He sustained broken legs, a broken right hand and broken shoulders and he had to undergo surgeries. “Plates” had to be placed in his shoulders. He also sustained injuries to his abdominal area and he is currently having difficulty breathing. He also lost some of his front teeth.
And Kaleem expects that life will only get harder as he would not be able to work for about a year. He is now confined to a bed and is unable to do anything for himself. He is also due to undergo added expenses to employ a nurse to care for him at home. He and his sons would have to return on separate days for follow-up treatment and that would entail a cost of $15,000 per trip in a taxi. His family stayed with relatives on the East Coast while he was in hospital and on Monday they had to hire two taxis to take them home. They also had to undergo expenses for CT-scans to be performed.
Fawaaz suffered a broken right leg and “steel” had to be installed in it, while Reeaz’s nose was fractured. Shamoon was lucky to have escaped without any broken bones but she has started to experience severe pain about her body. She and her sons also recalled seeing the vehicle coming towards them and said they became very scared. They too became unconscious after the impact.
Speaking to this newspaper from his home yesterday, Kaleem, who was still in severe pain, said when Greene’s vehicle came into his path he tried his best to avoid a collision. But before he knew it, the SUV, which was travelling at a fast rate, slammed into his car and he lost consciousness.
His brother, Raza Kaleem, who flew in from overseas to be with him just after the accident, is peeved that no one is coming forward to compensate them for their expenses.
He said too that although his brother spent two weeks in hospital, Greene’s relatives made no effort to visit them or to even offer a word of comfort. He is calling on them to “come forward and render assistance”.
Kaleem’s AT 192 Toyota Carina motorcar, which was valued $2 million is a “total write-off,” he said.
Kaleem, who had a third-party insurance coverage, is afraid that he would not be able to recover any cost for his vehicle. He is also thinking about seeking legal action on the way forward.
Police visited him in hospital and asked him about the accident but did not take any statements. He was told that after he was discharged, he should visit Vreed-en-Hoop Police Station but he is in no condition to do so.
Fawaaz, who has been seeking a job since 2010, told Stabroek News that the Tuesday after the accident he was supposed to go for an interview at the Central Police Station in New Amsterdam as a data entry clerk and he was sad that he lost the opportunity.
