A mother who lost her husband more than a year ago will now have to bury her son who was impaled by a steel rod protruding from an opening to a culvert under the road on Thursday evening at Eccles Industrial Site, East Bank Demerara (EBD).
Dead: Troy Ponton
Troy Anthony Ponton, a 43-year-old father of two of Diamond Housing Scene, EBD, was riding his bicycle heading home when he fell into an open culvert and became impaled by a steel rod.
The exposed culvert was situated on the pavement at the corner of Hummingbird Avenue and Falcon Drive, Block EE, Eccles.
According to the dead man’s mother, Sandra Ponton, her son and a friend were returning home at about 22:30h from bible class when the accident occurred. Shortly after, she was informed of the dreaded news.
Reports are that the friend heard an impact and when he stopped his bicycle and called out to Ponton, he did not get a response. He, however, turned around to look for the man and it was then he observed his friend sitting in an upright position in the culvert with his head resting on the steel rods, which was protruding from his nose.
Dead man’s mother: Sharon Ponton
The mother said from the information she received, her son was blinded by the lights of an oncoming vehicle, which probably rendered him unable to see the hole in the road.
Police at the scene of the accident on Thursday evening
“As I understand, the same time he was coming, there was some car light…the car light was in his eyes and he bounce in there and then he fall and then the steel run up in his nose and straight up in his head,” she explained.
The hole in which Ponton was found
The woman said the company that is responsible for leaving the area like that should face the full brunt of the law. Efforts by this publication to ascertain which company is responsible for the construction work in that area proved futile.
“I don’t have enough energy to go through this, but I am just begging God to give me health and strength, and faith to go through this. I lost my husband to a heart attack. He woke up a Friday morning and told me he is not feeling well… while hustling to go to the hospital… I see him lying on the bed with his tongue out his mouth and that’s it,” she explained.
“A big company like that, they should have had something to notify you, you know them highlight thing you does put around so that you will know that there is danger…everybody comes here and do all that they want and they don’t follow the procedure, do the right things, do the right things, when you do the right things, a lot of things could be avoided,” the mother lamented.
The woman said she is unsure how she will deal with this grief since the loss is not only unbearable but also sudden.
Ponton, who worked as a labourer, had two children, aged 7 and 10. Investigations are ongoing.
Meanwhile, the Public Works Ministry has since clarified that there were no road construction works where the accident occurred.
Based on their investigation, the culvert was previously damaged by a vehicle, and someone had placed a board over the exposed steel rods.
