A Tuschen, East Bank Essequibo youth succumbed on Thursday morning to injuries he sustained in an early morning vehicular accident.
Vickram Ramraj, called ‘Andy,’ 21, was travelling with friends in motor vehicle PSS 9367, which was proceeding east along the northern carriageway of the La Jalousie public road when the accident occurred. The vehicle was allegedly moving at a fast rate and the driver lost control and collided with a concrete fence, resulting in the vehicle turning turtle.
After the accident, the driver of the vehicle, a 20-year-old man and another occupant, Nafeeza Abrahim, were rushed to the West Demerara Regional Hospital. Ramraj was also taken to the hospital but was subsequently transferred to the George-town Public Hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries at about 5.15 am yesterday.
Relatives and friends of Ramraj were at Ramraj’s home to offer their condolences. The deceased’s mother, Sandra Ramraj, who was in tears when she spoke with Stabroek News, said she last saw her son alive on Wednesday before he left home to visit one of his friends at Vergenoegen. “When he go by he friend, he never return home here,” Sandra said.
According to her, just around 12 am on Thursday, she along with her husband got up and were concerned as their son had not yet returned home.
Sandra added that just around 1 am they received a phone call and were informed that their son was at the West Demerara Regional Hospital nursing serious injuries and that they should go to the hospital to check on him. “Me husband left and then the police come and say mom your son not critical but he half and half,” the woman stated.
According to the police, the driver of the car was subjected to a breathalyser test and his breath alcohol content was found to be above the legal limit.
Sandra stated that her son would consume alcohol whenever he was out with his friends.
The deceased’s aunt, Debbie, told Stabroek News that at the scene of the accident, a bottle of alcohol was found not far from the vehicle. She stated that she was told that the driver was driving at a fast rate and overtook another vehicle, which caused him to lose control and hit the concrete fence. “The driver he overtake another car on the road and he couldn’t control de car that’s why he end up hitting the fence. The same person that he overtake is the same person that take them to the hospital and the man said that he was going at a rate too,” Debbie said. She added that the driver that transported them to the hospital was able to pull her nephew from the vehicle through the rear windshield, which had to be broken, while Abrahim was flung out of the vehicle when the accident occurred.
According to the aunt, at the West Demerara Hospital, Ramraj was unresponsive and the family was told by the nurses that he would have to be transferred to Georgetown for a CT scan to be done on him. “When he been at the hospital, he wasn’t responding. They put he on the oxygen and check him. When we asked them, they said it doesn’t look good so they have to take him to Georgetown to do a CT scan,” she said.
Ramraj’s mother then stated that they had to pay for her son to be transferred to Georgetown. “They put him on the life machine and so in Georgetown but they couldn’t save he…,” Debbie said.
Sandra stated that her son was a very loving young man.
Ramraj’s family commended the police for the work they had done, while stating that they were present at the scene and at both hospitals.
Information received from the police stated that the 20-year-old driver of the car is in the police’s custody.
