15 years later, Portland truck crash survivor still traumatised

Rio Grande Valley, Portland

Novellete Fuller, a survivor of the ill-fated truck accident of December 2008, which claimed the lives of 14 people in the Rio Grande Valley of eastern Portland, is still having nightmares about the tragic incident.

Fuller, who spoke to The Gleaner on Friday, broke down in tears as she sought to explain the difficulty she has had since the truck accident 15 years ago.

According to Fuller, her livelihood as a market vendor was disrupted and was never to be rekindled as she developed a phobia about travelling in motor vehicles.

“Every time mi board a vehicle and it driving fast or the driver swerve, I have flashes of the accident, which prevents me from going back to sell at the market,” said Fuller. “Selling at the market in Kingston [Coronation Market] was what I did every week before the truck accident. I would pack up all my produce [yam, banana, dasheen, and cocoa] and board di truck at Mill Bank for the long journey. I was the breadwinner for my family, and it was just a routine for me. But the accident forced me to give up all of that, and since then, life has not been the same for me.

“Mi just couldn’t deal wid it anymore, and my daughter, who at the time was attending Port Antonio High, was affected as a result of the accident. After di accident, while in hospital, I remember each of us as survivors getting $20,000 each from [then Prime Minister] Bruce Golding and Daryl Vaz, but since then we did not get no other help. I know that shortly after, a special fund was set up to assist the children of those killed in the truck accident, but I didn’t get anything from that.”

Special trust set up

The fund mentioned by Fuller was a special trust set up by the Government at the time, which was spearheaded by Vaz, the West Portland member of Parliament, and was aimed at providing assistance to the children of those who perished in the truck accident up to the age of 18 years old, with specific instructions for the Portland Municipal Corporation (formerly the Portland Parish Council) to handle the disbursement.

However, according to Fuller, when she visited the Poor Relief Department of the then Portland Parish Council, which was in charge of disbursement, she was told that only children who lost their parents in the truck accident were to benefit from the fund.

“I was only given a uniform and a school bag for my daughter at the time, but other students would have benefitted from the special fund set up to help dem. My whole life has changed for the worse, and I don’t even have a roof over my head or a place to call home. Some time ago, mi apply fi a Poor Relief house, but because mi never did have no land, mi no get it. I was at di Christmas tree lighting on Wednesday in Port Antonio, and all the memories of the truck accident came back to me because di same night dem light di Christmas tree in 2008 a di same night di truck accident gwaan, “she concluded.

The Glea ner has since learned that the special fund set up to assist the children of those who died in the truck accident has since become obsolete, with all the children now being adults.

Fourteen people, including a 10-year-old, perished in the truck accident at Dam Bridge in the Rio Grande Valley on that fateful night 15 years ago.

gareth.davis@gleanerjm.com