SUV crashes into house in weekend accident
An early morning traffic accident caused chaos on Sunday as an out of control SUV collided head on into a house and fence on Freetown Road.
Jacqueline Godwin, Reporting
“Do you remember anything about the accident?”
Frank Garbutt, Accident Victim
“I do not remember anything. There is just, after I was going to the left that was it. I do not remember anything.”
Nineteen year old Frank Garbutt is lucky to be alive after the vehicle he was driving crashed into a fence and then the lower flat of this two storey wooden house on Freetown Road. The accident occurred around two on Sunday morning. According to the building’s residents Erlinda Herrera and Sylvia Robels, they were sound asleep when they awakened by a loud noise.
Erlinda Herrera, Resides in the upper flat
Translated: “We never know what happened. The house shook like there was an earthquake. The house was shaking like there was an earthquake. We got up and I said oh my god, what is this. We did not know what it was.”
Sylvia Robles, Resides in the lower flat
Translated: “I felt the shaking and I thought it was thunder. I came out and I saw a vehicle crash in the house. It caused my mirror to drop and break in three pieces. I checked on my daughter to see if she was okay and she was fine. That’s when we came out to see what had happened.”
No one inside the house was injured. Garbutt was not so lucky. The student received multiple injuries to his head and body and was rushed in an unconscious state to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital. He was later transferred to Belize Medical Associates where he remains admitted to ward in a stable condition.
Frank Garbutt
“They are saying that they are surprised due to my injuries that I am getting better so quick. I have two punctures in my neck. If one had gone any deeper it could have struck the aorta. I have a bruised chest and I have a bruised right lung. But they are saying that the right lung is much better today.”
Garbutt says he is still unable to move his right hand due to possible nerve damage but he is optimistic that it is only a temporary injury. The young man says he does not know what happened after he lost control of the Pathfinder but believes it was poor road conditions that caused him to lose control of the SUV.
Frank Garbutt
“Well, I would assume that, as you can see there are holes on the street and I was following my friend, I went into a deep hole that caused me to lose control of the vehicle going towards the left and after that I cannot remember anything. I just woke up the next morning and I noticed that I was in the hospital.”
Travelling with Garbutt at the time was eighteen year old Justin Kuylen who sustained minor injuries. Initial reports by the police indicate that both young men were in pursuit of another vehicle that was carrying occupants with whom they had had an earlier misunderstanding. Today, Garbutt denies that report.
Frank Garbutt
“I wasn’t. I was following my best friend’s vehicle who was taking home another friend and that is about it. I wasn’t in pursuit of any vehicle, I was being a friend to another friend.”
Police say their investigations into the crash continue. The tenants affected by the incident say they will continue to live in the house while the necessary repairs are being done to the building.
