The mother of the Ocho Rios High school girl who was killed in a motor vehicle collision says though she saw her daughter motionless on a bed at the St. Ann’s Bay Hospital she was unable to get to the hospital in Kingston, to which her child was transferred, before she died.
Arlene Grant of Mile End, St. Ann is grieving for her child Tashema Anderson, 15 years old, the last of four, who lived with her father and step mother in the same district. The child’s father returned to the island at the weekend, after being away for months and has reportedly taken the news of his daughter’s death very badly.
Ms. Grant doesn’t have all the details about why her daughter was staying briefly with relatives of her step mother in St. Ann’s Bay and attending school. Ms. Grant said her daughter had been on community service to fulfilsome school requirements but she was not sure whether that was why the child was still staying in St Ann’s Bay.
CRASH
On the Wednesday morning, about 6:15, Tashema and a still undisclosed number of other passengers, including two other students from Ocho Rios High School, were travelling in a taxi from St Ann’s Bay toward Ocho Rios High when, along the Drax Hall Main Road, it was involved in a collision with another travelling west, in the opposite direction.
Police said six persons were injured, in the collision between a Toyota Probox, and a Toyota Corolla station wagon, both operated as taxis.
No details have been given by police about those injured and released but the two drivers were said to be badly hurt. One of them was released Monday morning October 7 while another remains hospitalized. Both have been warned for prosecution. Another of those injured is said to have been airlifted to Kingston for treatment.
Tashema Anderson was among the six taken to St Ann’s Bay Hospital.
Ms. Grant said she reached the hospital in St Ann’s Bay that morning after getting news of the crash. She said she saw her daughter who was motionless. She was told the girl’s spine had been crushed. She said there were various reports about where the child had been sitting in the vehicle. She explained that the girl was not bleeding and was talking but didn’t say much.
Ms. Grant said when Tashema was sent off to Kingston Public Hospital, and she was told, she alerted a niece to go and be with the child while she prepared to go to the capital city. She said when she arrived at the hospital Thursday afternoon, October 2, she heard that Tashema had experienced a seizure and died.
She now has to live with memories of the girl who at one time said she wanted to be a doctor or nurse and who later came to like nutrition and catering. She said the last time she saw her daughter with the joy and bounce she was used to, was just over a week prior to the accident when Tashema came to her home to pick up bibs and cap and other gears for a cooking class at school. She said her daughter had also spent a brief time at a party before going away.
“She was a quiet child,” Ms. Grant said.
