Families in Shock Following Crash that Killed Infant and Young Woman
As we reported on Monday, our News Five crew witnessed a fatal accident on the George Price Highway near mile nine that claimed the life of a woman and a ten-month-old baby. The child’s mother survived the ordeal and today chronicled to News Five’s Duane Moody the traumatic experience of losing both her baby and best friend.
Golda Reynolds, Accident Survivor
Golda Reynolds
“Usually when I am on day off or she is on break, we would take that normal drive or socialization with just the kids and us. We would either go up the highway, go through western, come around through Boom go down north or we would go to the park or we would go to Bacab or we would just be driving around the city.”
Duane Moody, Reporting
On Monday, Golda Reynolds, her ten-month-old son, Abdur Smith, and her best friend, Tifara Samuels-Hall were heading up the highway as they so often did, just as a pastime, given the restrictions of the pandemic. But that afternoon as they drove past the Eight Mile Community, the unthinkable happened when they were clipped by a dump truck that tried to overtake her small white car. Reynolds told us what happened next and how she tried her best to avoid what she saw coming at her.
Golda Reynolds
“The truck that was coming from the direction of Belmopan to Belize City start blowing his horn to alert him that you can’t overtake because I can’t stop the speed weh I di go and the speed weh you di go, yo can’t overtake. But by this time, he done start to overtake my vehicle and when he realise he couldn’t make that overtake, he tried to dress back and he swerve into my vehicle. It turned my vehicle to the side and it pushed my vehicle straight into the big truck that was coming in the opposite direction. And he pushed me and I tried to turn. I tried to turn that vehicle because I saw it coming and I couldn’t because he clipped my vehicle and he pushed and pushed and he eventually break free of it for some reason and he swerved into the next lane and he couldn’t stop. He stopped probably about some hundred yards away. And on impact, my friend and my baby dead. My baby dead. She was feeding the baby and putting him to sleep and I picked him up and said just say something to mommy please. And I just wanted to hear his voice and I watched my baby take his last breath. I watched my baby take his last breath and I hold him. And I walked up that street with that baby in my hand and I said bring that driver to me, bring him let him see what he did to my baby.”
Hall’s family was in disbelief when they heard the news no one ever wants to hear.
Sherieka Young, Sister of Tifara Samuels-Hall
Sherieka Young
“My bra-lee call and say gial yo have to come to the hospital because my sister ketch ina accident. So I tell he, bwai stop play. And he say, gial I noh di play. She supposed to be dead. Me and my sister come out and we gone straight dah hospital. When we reach deh, dehn had my sister ina wah bag, ina di back ah wah pickup truck waiting for the doctor to pronounce her dead.”
Reynolds says she didn’t take her two older children, Abdur’s brother and sister because they were doing their online classes; nor did they take Hall’s seven-year-old daughter. Today, both families are holding strong to their faith, trying to support their grieving loved ones.
Golda Reynolds
“I got a series of abrasions, bruises. I don’t know if I will be able to stand on my leg because I can’t walk. And it continues. I just have to wait and see. It is hard this year. It is terrible for me. I had my baby in January, I lost my mom in March and now November, my baby. How can you cope with all of this, yo know?”
Sherieka Young
“I dah wah traffic officer, be safe on the road. It hurts me to know that I enforce the law and this is the way my sister went. Come on, dah noh only unu one deh pan di road. Share the road; unu noh need fi drive soh. Belize noh wah move, weh unu gwen noh wah move; unu still wah reach weh unu gwen. Just slow down and take unu time on the road.”
Reynolds had this to say to the driver:
Golda Reynolds
“You come and be a driver weh irresponsible and people like we weh responsible can’t hide from unu. You take away two lives. Tifara have one daughter; you take away wa ma from a daughter, you take weh wah son from a ma. I can’t replace; your sorry noh means nothing to me if yo even say sorry. Why did you decide to overtake? What was the hurry?”
These are among the many questions that will continue to replay within the minds of the loved ones of Abdur Smith and Tifara Samuels-Hall as they mourn their untimely deaths as a result of this latest fatal accident. Duane Moody for News Five.
