Valdeen Shears-Neptune
The mother of a 13-year-old boy, who was knocked down near President’s Grounds, St Ann’s, a month ago, has accused police investigators of not doing enough to find the offending drivers.
Kasana Prentis said her son Isiah Scoon remained confined to a hospital bed at Mt Hope since the incident. She said wants the police to tell her what is really happening.
As far as the family was concerned, she said, there was more to the accident than they were being told.
Scoon was on his way to football training at the President’s Grounds, on September 20, when he was knocked down.
Initially, the boy’s relatives were told that he had been hit by two cars.
Prentis has since sought the assistance of Crime Watch television host Ian Alleyne and was featured on his show on October 22.
She said she felt as if investigations have stalled, as several weeks ago she was told that the police investigators were awaiting footage from overhead CCTV cameras. To date, she said, they have neither denied or confirmed if her son was hit by more than one vehicle.
However, when the T&T Guardian spoke with one of the drivers involved in the accident, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, he said, it happened very quickly, but another vehicle may have been involved.
The man made a report to the Belmont Police Station shortly after the accident,
Prentis, a mother of two, has been at her son’s bedside at the Children’s Hospital, Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex, Mt Hope, daily.
Last week, she allowed the T&T Guardian to speak with him.
“I only remember thinking about crossing the road, but nothing after that. I am okay. It hurts a lot, and the food kinda tasting good, but I really missing school and football,” he said.
The Standard Five student of Eastern Boys’ Government Primary, Port-of-Spain, whose favourite subject is grammar, was preparing for the SEA examinations next May. Prentis said the road to recovery looked really long for her son and she was fearful how this would affect his education.
She expressed gratitude for the interest and concern shown by the principal and staff of the school. His football coach also visits regularly.
Her son, she said, looks foward to their visits. She is presently in discussions with the school supervisor and the principal, on the way forward.
Prentis said she has also requested the homework and projects be given to him to be completed at the hospital.
“I am thankful, though, that he is alive and at least now he is talking, even if he can’t walk and is in plenty pain sometimes. It could have been worse,” she said.
Initially, the boy was warded at the Intensive Care Unit, where he was hooked up to a ventilator to help him breathe.
Both legs were broken, there were lacerations to his lungs and he had suffered a shattered left knee. One leg was so badly broken that doctors had to place screws and bolts in his leg to help it mend properly.
Last week, Scoon underwent emergency surgery to remove a portion of his liver, which had become infected, and was later transfered to the Surgical Ward 1. Doctors also placed a tube in his stomach to drain fluid from there and from his chest, she said.
Prentis said the driver who made the police report had not shown enough interest. She said while he visited Scoon during the first week at the hospital, she expected him to visit her son more often.
Prentis, a single mother, is calling on the police to speed up investigations. Failing this, she remains hopeful, that Alleyne will get her justice.
Efforts to contact the investigating officer at the Belmont Police Station proved futile.