Dramatic rescue follows N. Hwy. crash
It brought to mind that old physics scenario of what happens when an irresistible force meets an immovable object. But what happened around noon Saturday between miles two and three on the Northern Highway was more than just a theoretical exercise. News Five’s Jacqueline Woods has the story.
Jacqueline Woods, Reporting
When our cameraman arrived on the scene about five minutes after the collision, the back tyre of the white truck was still spinning and the vehicle’s driver, twenty-eight year old Marty Goff, was sitting in a daze on the pavement, covered with blood and oil. To the rear of the vehicle, a red Isuzu Rodeo was partially lodged under the truck, and the S.U.V.’s driver, thirty year old Juan Carlos Romero Jr., was still trapped in his seat. Romero was able to communicate, but could hardly move with his legs pinned under the wreckage. Samira Romero, who was travelling along with her husband and child at the time of the accident, was able to free herself and her six-year-old daughter from the twisted metal.
It did not take long for the Belize Emergency Response Team, BERT, and the National Fire and Rescue Service to arrive on the scene. First, a forklift was used to lift the back of the truck from off the Isuzu Rodeo and then the fire fighters wasted no time using the Jaws of Life to cut away at the twisted metal so that the Emergency Medical Technicians could reach Romero and get him to the hospital.
Ted Smith, Assistant Fire Chief
“The steering column and dashboard came down and fastened and pinned his legs. The department then start extricating the casualty by peeling back the roof, removing the doors, and pulling the steering column from off?releasing the pressure from off his legs.”
Once a clear passage was created, BERT moved in and carefully tended to Romero, who throughout the entire ordeal kept talking with the firemen and E.M.T.’s. The operation took about two hours to complete. Romero, who suffered mostly facial abrasions, cuts and bruises, was taken to Belize Medical Associates and on Sunday was allowed to return home.
As for Goff, he remains at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital with several broken bones and facial injuries. Goff, who works as a driver for Kee?s Bakery, told News Five that he had just finished working for the day and was returning to the office at mile three and a half on the Northern Highway when the accident happened. He says he does not remember what occurred; only what people have been telling him.
Marty Goff, Accident Victim
Sad to say, but I don’t anything, any, any thing at all.?
Jacqueline Woods
?What have people being telling you? How did you manage to get out of the truck??
Marty Goff
?From what I heard, they said that I actually crawled out of the truck. I don?t remember doing it, but everybody says so.”
“One thing I don’t appreciate is people putting their own stories together and I can?t say for a fact that it is true or it is a lie. But from what I heard and from what other people tell me, it wasn?t my fault; that is all I can say. I?m not going to say, it was his fault, it was his fault, because I don?t know, I don’t remember.”
Goff says the doctors told him that it will take about a year for him to recover fully from his injuries.
Marty Goff
“I have four fractures, two in each feet; one fracture across both legs, one in the left ankle, and one in the left knee.”
Meanwhile, Romero says he still cannot understand how his family managed to survive the crash, but he is very certain about what happened. Romero says he remembers seeing the white truck pull out from Faux Avenue onto the highway, right into the path of the oncoming the Coca Cola truck.
Juan Carlos Romero Jr., Accident Victim
“On my lane he was all free, but then he must have thought that the Coca Cola truck was going to slow down, brakes or something, but that Coca Cola truck was coming so fast that that didn?t give him the opportunity to make it across with a green light. The next thing I knew, the impact of that green truck was just one hit. All I heard was a bang and we saw over our dashboard, we saw the truck coming on top of us, like a bird just coming and landing on top of you coolly.”
“Right after that we had that impact there, the airbags bust, there was glass flying all over the place. My wife, she was on the side, I started grabbing her. A friend took her out and another lady took out my daughter and I stayed inside. My door was pinned down on my left side and the tyres were there from the truck. The chassis was almost in my face, steering wheel was pinning my two legs down.”
Romero says he is very grateful for all those persons who helped him, his wife, and daughter; especially the fire and rescue service, BERT, E.M.T. Javier Canul, and Bret Feinstein who brought his fork lift to help the emergency service workers get to him. Romero says from what he saw, he believes that Goff is responsible for the accident.
Juan Carlos Romero Jr.
“He shouldn?t have come out there. He should have waited. That?s a busy highway, you can?t be taking risks. I know that we don?t have the proper speed bumps, the proper roundabouts, but you have to learn to respect traffic. I mean there are signs put up there, but nobody respects them. There?s a twenty-five mile per hour sign and nobody respects it, people coming down sixty-five, seventy, it?s crazy.”
Jacqueline Woods for News Five.
The driver of the Coca Cola truck was twenty-four year old Laren Tun. So far the police have not charged anyone in connection with the accident.
