Reaz Shaw, the teen who was confined to bed more than a month ago after he was critically injured in the Annandale, East Coast Demerara (ECD) Public Road hit-and-run accident, has significantly improved and can now walk and even speak on his own.
The accident, which occurred on Sunday, December 9, claimed the life of 15-year-old Khemraj, called ‘Ajay,’ a horse cart operator of Lot 44 Annandale West, ECD.
Shaw, a trainee mechanic of Lot 35 Annandale West, was critically injured. He was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit of the Georgetown Public Hospital and subsequently moved to the High Dependency Unit (HDU) prior to his discharge in early January.
Following his discharge, Shaw has been cared for by his parents. He could not move, speak, or eat on his own and was being fed through a tube.
Doctors had declared that he would need extensive physiotherapy sessions in order for him to recover.
However, following six physiotherapy sessions at the Palms, the teen now communicates with his relatives, walks with their support and even eats on his own since the removal of the tube.
His father, Yacoob Shaw, recently explained to Stabroek News that the quick improvement in Reaz’s condition has left everyone, including the therapists, shocked. “Well you know meh thank god cause me nah been expect and the public all nah been ah expect that how he (Reaz) been guh recover suh quick fah the damage wah he get in the accident. Even the doctor been tell me this (recovery) ah years story,” the visibly overwhelmed senior Shaw said.
Stabroek New had previously reported that at the time of the accident, the police had said that the teenagers rode out of a northern access road onto the public road, when a white Toyota ‘Pitbull’ minibus, which was proceeding east along the northern carriageway of the said road, collided with the bicycle.
As a result, both teens fell on the roadway and sustained head injuries.
A few days after the accident, a minibus, which is suspected to be the vehicle used in the accident, was impounded after it was found covered in a yard at Mon Repos, ECD.
A woman who lived on the premises was taken into custody, and she provided the police with an identification and address of a man suspected to be the driver.
However, the man, who is said to be a Chinese businessman of Vigilance, ECD, is yet to be apprehended. It is suspected that he has fled to neighbouring Suriname.
The accident was recorded by nearby surveillance cameras, which showed that the teens were struck from behind.
Attorney James Bond, who is representing the Chinese Association of Guyana, had approached the families with an offer of cash but the money had been refused.
Bond had previously told this newspaper that the money was not being offered to settle the matter but rather out of remorse. This, he had also said, would not interfere with the usual investigation of the matter.
However, while the parents of both of the teens had previously hinted at accepting compensation and settling the matter, they have not yet done so.
