Surgery instead of school

FOUR-YEAR-OLD Cheyenne Chin Choy was yesterday at the Wendy Fitzwilliam Paediatric Hospital at Mt Hope, awaiting surgery on her legs which were broken in last Saturday’s accident at Manzanilla.

A weekend outing to Mayaro turned tragic when she and nine other people were involved in a three-car accident last Saturday at Manzanilla. Two of them have died. Cheyenne was yesterday watching the Disney Movie Finding Nemo on a personal computer while being closely watched by her grandmother who is visiting from the United States. She has stitches on her face and an intravenous tube is in her arm. Although heavily sedated, she is traumatised. Her father, Yuri, told Newsday that she would fall asleep for five minutes then wake up because of nightmares. She told her parents she does not want to go to Mayaro again and has been asking why the accident took place. Cheyenne was eagerly looking forward to starting school at St Bernadette’s but this will have to be postponed. The operation on her legs was delayed because the hospital did not have sufficient stock of her rare blood type, AB. A public appeal generated a good response on Tuesday, but tests had to be done before the blood could be used. Her parents were yesterday waiting to speak with the specialist who would be doing the surgery on Cheyenne’s legs.   The family is especially concerned about surgery on her right knee because “pins” will be inserted.

Yuri described the incident as “unfortunate” and said his life has changed. He has driven on the Churchill-Roosevelt Highway once since Cheyenne has been warded and instead uses the Eastern Main Road. Yuri said he likes to lime and is an “average Trini” but he also loves his daughter. He said the TT culture of liming, drinking and driving has to stop. The accident reminded him that life is precious. “My only daughter could have been dead. The rushing, urgency and what you think is important is not.” A car driven by 22-year-old Aknath Basdeo was heading in a northerly direction along the Manzanilla/Mayaro Road when he tried to overtake a truck in front of him. Basdeo’s car collided with another car driven by Chin Choy’s great-grandfather Errol Toussaint, 64. He is warded at the Port-of-Spain General Hospital.