By Neto Baptiste
A Willikies resident is left nursing her wounds but counting her blessings after escaping serious injuries following a one-vehicle accident late Thursday night.
Carol-Faye Bynoe was left trapped in her Toyota Rav 4 for over an hour and suffered minor injuries after falling victim to unfinished road works in the area of Carty’s Hill.
“They dug a trench or ditch, whatever you want to call it, sometime in the day because going to work, that wasn’t there. In front of it was a big heap of stones. Now, that area is not properly lit, and I am always very careful around that area because a lot of donkeys tend to run across and run in front of you there. I don’t know what happened, but all I know I was in the ditch and then I went sailing into the heap of stones and my vehicle, my jeep, it ended up on its side, the driver’s side. I was trapped in the vehicle for a good while,” she said.
Speaking to Observer media, Bynoe said she has encountered similar situations of ongoing roadworks in the past but admitted there were ample warnings placed ahead of the affected area. This, however, was not the case in this instance.
“I was like, whoever is in charge, the authority need to do something about that because it could have been fatal but I happen to be a lucky one. Going forward, I would really like them to pursue more precaution when they’re doing these things. Anybody that’s experienced something like that should be compensated but then who do I ask about it? Do I ask Public Works? Do I ask APUA? Because I don’t know who was really responsible for digging the ditch in the first place,” she said.
Bynoe, the former head of the Antigua and Barbuda Dominio Association, was appreciative of the efforts from those who were first to arrive on the scene.
“I must thank the police officers, the fire department, and also the EMS because they were awesome, especially the police officers. They just made me now start to believe in humanity again because I’m telling you, it was like a split-second thing. Fortunately for me, I sustained minimum damages. I didn’t have any broken bones or anything, and I kind of thank the Lord I’m a bit on the fluffy side because the only thing that I have ailing me now is my upper arm. My right arm is hurting because most of my waist was lodged in that area and then a portion of my skin on my arm was rooted off,” the victim said.
Bynoe was treated at the Sir Lester Bird Medical Center for her injuries and discharged.
The incident has highlighted the dangers many motorists face on their daily commute in the midst of ongoing road works across the country.