Soldiers save woman’s life

Trinidad Guardian

Soldiers lift an injured Kristy Auguste into the back of an army mini van after she was struck by a car on Knox Street, Port-of-Spain, yesterday. In the absence of an ambulance, the soldiers took the woman to the Port-of-Spain General Hospital. PHOTO: KRISTIAN DE SILVA

For one hour yesterday, Kristy Auguste lay on the roadway, in the middle of Port-of-Spain, having been struck by a car.

She could not move, and despite efforts by many people, there was no ambulance to take the woman to the Port-of-Spain General Hospital. As one woman put it, “the injured lady was left for dead.”

The crowd which grew, became agitated as no one seemed to be doing anything for Auguste, who was in severe pain, and crying. Jones P Madeira, court information and protocol manager for the judiciary, became angry when he was told several times on his mobile phone, that “we have the report and ambulance is on its way.”

To Madeira’s amazement, that ambulance was responding from Chaguanas. It never arrived. Soldiers assigned to the nearby Knox Street headquarters gave up on the ambulance and literally took things into their own hands and transported Auguste to the hospital. The drama unfolded around 11.20 am.