BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – A young woman, who was struck by a motor vehicle whilst crossing a street in downtown Basseterre, is of the view that the police are acting very slowly in the matter, but she does not intend to let it rest.
Jeannette Matthew claims that after exiting the Independence Square and patiently waiting for the busy afternoon traffic to “ease down” along West Independence Square Street, she decided to cross the street to get onto sidewalk of Central Street when a vehicle drove off from that thoroughfare and struck her on the right hip and right hand.
She also claimed that the driver did not offer an apology or even showed remorse but instead drove away.
In an exclusive interview with SKNVibes, Matthew recounted the events of that unforgettable afternoon.
"It was Thursday the 27th of March around 4:12 p.m. when I was leaving the [Independence] Square to go onto Central Street. I waited until the vehicles that were coming down West Independence Square Street were at a very good distance away from where I stood before crossing the street."
Matthew said that she had observed a dark grey jeep (P319) with its engine running at the stop sign on the corner of Central and West Independence Square Streets.
"I started crossing, and just when I got to the end of the street the vehicle came out of the stop and ran into me...my right side, my hand and my hip," she explained.
Although she was not thrown to the ground, Matthew said she was struck very hard and it left her in shock, adding that "I did not know what caught me first, whether it was the noise or the feeling of the vehicle hitting me".
"I froze on the spot and he [driver] said, 'I didn't see you, I was looking at the vehicles coming down the road.' There were two ladies in the vehicle with him and the one on the passenger’s side in the front seat said she's so frightened. So I'm thinking...‘You're so frightened! But what about me, I got hit.’
"I realised he was not making an effort to pull to the side of the road to see what was going on. So I looked at his vehicle number and when I asked him his name, he looked at me and drove off," Matthew explained.
Matthew said she immediately went and made a report at the Basseterre Police Station and was given a medical form to take to the JNF Hospital.
The young woman added that when she got to the hospital she was examined by a doctor and, upon completion, returned to the station with the signed medical form.
Matthew told this publication that she called the Basseterre Police Station on the following Monday (Mar. 31) and was told that the matter was in the hands of the Traffic Department and that she should contact them directly or wait until they contacted her.
She however decided to call the Traffic Department on the following day.
"I tried speaking to Inspector Caines after I felt like I was getting the run around. I did not get to speak to Caines but I spoke to an Officer Liburd, who told me that Caines or someone would get in touch with me because I needed to do a statement."
Matthew informed that after not being contacted, she went to the station the next day (Apr. 2) and gave a statement. She said that while there, she saw and spoke to Inspector Caines who informed that he had no knowledge of the matter until the previous day when she had called.
She said he assured her that someone would look into the matter, adding that she visited her doctor on the same day and had an X-ray done on the Friday (Apr. 4).
"I got a call from the very rude Officer Liburd, telling me that I needed to go to the police station to give a statement. I tried explaining to him that I already did that on Wednesday [and] he got quite rude and quite upset and said, ‘That was not a statement, it was a report. You need to come and if you're not coming...' and with that he hung up the phone."
Matthew explained that she went to the station the next day (Apr. 5) and told the officer who was going to take her statement that she had already done so, and she was proven correct after checks were made.
She said she asked what would be the next step and was told that she would be contacted and they would decide if they would take the matter to Court.
With regards to her injuries, Matthew said: "The bone is fine, it's just that the muscles and the tissues are swollen, so I have to keep my hand in a sling except when I'm lying down or keep it cushioned. If I do anything strenuous it gets swollen, so I'm trying not to use it too much. But I still have to do things, so occasionally it still gets swollen.
"She [doctor] told me people heal differently. So, hopefully, between two to six weeks it should be back to normal."
The accident victim has since been off her job and would be going out to work within a few days with the hope of her hand is "not too bad by that time".
Matthew is of the view that nothing would be done and she has no intention of letting the matter slip by.
"Honestly, under different circumstances I may not have done anything had he been cautious enough or even pretended to care about what happened. But I felt offended that he looked at me when I asked his name and then drove off instead of pulling to the side, getting out, making sure I'm okay and ask me if I needed to go to the hospital or anything.
"I felt he has no regards for human beings or the law. Maybe he feels he is above the law and he could do what he wants and get away with it. Quite frankly, it doesn't sit well with me! It doesn't make me feel comfortable knowing that it happened and to this day nothing was done. Maybe because he is up there and I am down here...So what I'm looking for at the end of the day is for the police to actually know that I'm not sleeping on it. I'm not going to let it go!”
Matthew said even an apology would have "sit better, just make an effort to show that you have some sort of remorse for what you did and not just to disregard the entire thing just drive away like I'm a dog or something like that", especially since it could have been a lot worse.
She added that her elbow pained her when she was struck by the vehicle but she did not feel the full impact until later that evening when her entire arm was in pain.
"It could have been worse! Maybe had I not seen the vehicle coming it could have probably knocked me off my feet or something and cause more damage. But, I guess because I saw it, I was able to brace myself a little bit more when it was approaching," Matthew said.
