A 22-year-old motorcycle pillion rider died while being treated at the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH) after the bike he was on crashed into a car at an intersection on Mandela Avenue yesterday morning.
Tavel Gilbert, of 3723 North Ruimveldt, suffered massive head injuries after the CG motorcycle he was being towed on by a friend, ploughed into a car PNN 7257 at the intersection of Mandela Avenue and Pineapple Street, East Ruimveldt.
The rider, Marvin Massiah, 23, also of North Ruimveldt, received several injuries and remains hospitalised in a critical but stable state. Two of his ribs were broken, his left leg, right hand, neck fractured and multiple abrasions to the body, one of his aunts said.
In a press release, the police said the accident occurred at around 9:05 am. The driver of motor car PNN 7257 was proceeding along the roadway, police said, and it is alleged that the driver of motor cycle CG 4759 collided with the rear of the car as it was turning into an access street. The driver of the motor car is in police custody assisting with the investigations.
A resident, who operates a carwash a few metres from the accident, said that he did not see what happened but heard the sound of the impact and looked around to see Gilbert lying next to a culvert at Pineapple Street. He said it appeared that the man had slammed head on into the culvert as blood was splattered all over it.
Gilbert’s mother, Donna Cole, broke down as she recalled the events leading up to be called to the GPHC because her only child had died. “He took out his animals and then tell me he hear a man want people to clean drains and he going. I say, ‘That you going and do?’ And he say, ‘Mommy is honest work and is something to make a dollar’ and he left,” she said.
It was only minutes after she received a call from her son’s father saying that she should rush to the GPH. When she got there she said she got a message that he had already died.
She explained that while she was not allowed to view the man’s corpse she ran behind the porters as they took him to the morgue and while he was being placed in the freezer she saw profuse bleeding from his head and that his face was swollen. Pansy Cole, Gilbert’s great aunt stated that hospital staff had explained to her that her nephew’s body was mangled. He had multiple broken bones, a fractured skull and a gaping laceration to his head.
The family described Tavel as industrious, caring and one who loved caring for his animals which includes cows, sheep and dogs, among others.
