Nine years of pain: St Mary man hit by car in 2009 still suffering
A ST Mary man who was hit by a car in 2009 is still suffering after sustaining multiple injuries in the incident. Today, because of his debilitating condition, he is unable to walk properly without the aid of two crutches but is still forced to walk several miles to the Port Maria Hospital to get treatment on a monthly basis.
Marshall McCook, 40, of Castle Gardens district, located between Port Maria and Galina in St Mary, is unsure if and when he will be totally healed. In the meantime, he is appealing for assistance as the PATH cheque for $3,200 that he collects every other month is woefully inadequate to cover his expenses.
Even now, he is unable to fully explain his injuries, except that the pain has persisted over the years.
On Tuesday, The Gleaner caught up with McCook as he hobbled from Port Maria towards his home, stopping to rest in the shade of a tree by the roadside.
He told The Gleaner that he was injured on October 6, 2009, by a car driven by an elderly man that was reversing along the main road in the vicinity of Blue Harbour in his community.
“The man was reversing in the dusk hours. When him was reversing, him knock mi down in the night because him couldn’t see so well. Is a ‘ageable’ man,” McCook related.
“Though me fell on a stone, mi foot get a damage, mi back get a damage, and one of mi shoulder, so a three part a mi body get damage. From that, dem sen mi to di hospital. So mi keep going to the hospital until now.”
Getting to the hospital in Port Maria is another matter. Sometimes, because he does not have enough money to pay his fare, he is forced to walk most of the distance.
“Some a di time, mi walk go up by the parish council, get a vehicle, then after mi get a vehicle, mi tek a vehicle go to the hospital, tek a vehicle come back, an den mi walk it from Port Maria go home. Once in a while, mi walk to the hospital [from home] if mi leave out early, but mi nuh really walk so far, still, only once in a while.”
McCook said that the driver of the car did not make a report to the police at the time. However, he did, and the lawmen were able to track down the driver, but this was long after the incident. He is unsure what came out of that.
Asked if the matter was reported to the insurance company or if the vehicle was insured, McCook was again unsure.
Whatever the case, he has not been compensated in any way. And the pains persist.
“Mi nuh really get no benefit, just the PATH,” he explained.
Before the accident, McCook used to burn coal to earn an income, but since then, he hasn’t been able to do any form of work and has been relying on family members, including his mother, Christine Simpson, to survive.
McCook is unsure what the future holds for him, but he is praying to get well. And he’s also hoping for some help.
“Mi would a like get better ... . Right yah now, to the type a damage wha mi get, like how mi cyaa really work, I would need a likkle benefit or so, though is only the PATH mi getting. Mi nuh really know how fi correct the situation.”
McCook may be contacted through his mother, Christine Simpson, at 876-571-2707.