11 -year- old Hema Singh, who was struck down on August 27 by a speeding driver on the Canal Number One Public Road died on Saturday at the Georgetown Public Hospital and her family has renewed its call for justice.
Singh, of 19 Tenez Ferme, Canal Number One, West Bank Demerara had been brain dead for approximately three days in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the Georgetown Public Hospital, where she was hooked up to a life-support machine.
Yesterday, her mother Nalini Sukhu, told Stabroek News that when she went to visit during the midday on Saturday, the family said their goodbyes. “She had already gone but the doctors kept her on the machine until we came. Her heart had stop beating,” the mother lamented.
On August 27th, Singh was on the road purchasing garlic for her mother when she was struck down.
Sukhu recalled that she heard an impact and when she looked out she saw Singh in the air. The grieving mother said from all indications it appears as if the driver of PPP 5344, the vehicle that hit the girl, was distracted.
The family believes that he may have been on his cellular phone at the time of the accident. The mother explained that after the driver struck her daughter, he stopped some distance away from the point of impact. She said public-spirited persons rendered assistance by picking Singh up and making the driver take her to the West Demerara Regional Hospital for treatment.
Meanwhile, the mother told Stabroek News the police had not visited the family since the child’s death but called and enquired about the time of death. “The police call me and asking me what time she die. I had to turn and tell he it is not my duty and he should visit the hospital,” the mother said.
She further lamented that when she went to the La Grange Police Station to inform ranks of the passing, she was told by officers that the traffic officers were not available and she should return.
The family, not satisfied with the investigation so far, is calling for the intervention of the acting Police Commissioner David Ramnarine.
“La Grange police dragging their foot on this matter. They let the man go. He already repaired his car but never thought of coming and offer a compensation,” the girl’s distraught father, Deobalack Singh had told Stabroek News previously.
The mother said the doctors and nurses of the ICU of the public health facility delivered excellent service and should be commended. “I must say thank you to them. They did their best. Even though she was brain dead they still kept her on the machine and keep giving her the treatment… I am thankful,” said the mother.
