(Trinidad Guardian) Fighting for breath after his truck fell into a river when a major bridge in Moruga collapsed under him on Saturday, truck driver Terrence Joseph clawed his way to safety with the help of three men.
But while he was thankful to be alive, Joseph recalled how his rescuers robbed him of $1,400 after saving him. This was all the money Joseph had to pay bills and buy food for his family.
The father of one told Guardian Media that up to yesterday he still had not received medical treatment.
Recalling the ordeal, Joseph, 39, of Marabella, said he collected a truckload of crush material and went to Edward Trace, Moruga, to drop it off at a hunter’s camp, where they were building a driveway.
While traversing the forested road, Joseph said he came upon a group of scrap metal dealers who offered to take him to the location.
“The scrap metal dealers crossed the bridge first and I followed, then all of a sudden I heard a loud sound and all I saw was trees, the sky and the river as the truck went down with a thud.”
Joseph was thrown from the driver’s seat to the back of the cab and the truck began sinking.
The scrap metal dealers came in after him.
“I heard one of them pounding the glass and saying, ‘Don’t worry big man, I here. Fight your way out.’”
He said another one of his rescuers jumped down into the river and said, “‘Breathe, catch yourself. Try and come out’. By then the back of the truck was submerged,” Joseph said.
He added that his rescuer eventually opened the door and helped him onto the side railing.
“I slipped and fell into the river and they came back down for me. By then I had swallowed half the river water. They threw down a strap and I wrapped the strap around my hand. Then I scaled the river wall. Part of the wall was dislodged but they pulled me up,” Joseph added.
He said in a confused state, he pulled out his wallet and his Samsung Galaxy S20 phone.
“One of the men told me, ‘boy, your foot bleeding. Go and wash out. That is river water you went in’,” Joseph said.
By the time he washed out the blood and came back, his wallet was empty and his rescuers and his phone were gone.