Haunting memories

Three years after the tragic accident which shook Barbados, some survivors of the Joe’s River accident continue to be haunted by the physical and emotional pain, while awaiting insurance payments for their injuries.Six people lost their lives and another 37 were injured on July 29, 2007, when a tour coach transporting them to the Crop-Over East Coast Calypso Bowl, party crashed into a wall at Joe’s River in St Joseph.It was this country’s worst traffic accident in 62 years, and claims from the accident were anticipated to amount to one of the largest ever insurance pay-outs in Barbados.Manager of the Insurance Corporation of Barbados, Wismar Greaves, told the Midweek Nation yesterday that “some claims have been paid, some are being processed and some are being negotiated”. Greaves could not say how many claims had already been paid, however.The outing was intended to be a special treat for 16 staff from the Lucky Horseshoe, all of whom sustained injuries. Yesterday, Laura Galt, the manager who had accompanied her staff on the trip, and who herself suffered injury, told the Midweek Nation: “I am still having problems, I am still having physio and the arm is giving me some grief but it is something I will have to live with.” Galt suffered a broken arm among other injuries.She gave away her tickets for last Sunday’s Soca Royale at Bushy Park, saying the memories were too painful, particularly the loss of one of her supervisors, Nancy Griffith, who was sitting at the front of the bus.Galt said she planned to visit Griffith’s grave tomorrow to place a wreath and was also considering taking flowers to the Joe’s River site.Another injured Lucky Horseshoe manager, Debra Walker, said: “I was planning to take some of the girls to Soca On The Hill, and I just could not get it done. Then on Sunday I was planning to go to Soca Royale and I could not go.”As the anniversary rolls around, Debra talks about experiencing pain – which she is not sure whether it’s real or imaginary – from a shoulder dislocated in the accident. She also intends to seek psychiatric help for the nightmares which she continues to experience.Adrian Franklyn was one of the six casualties. His widow Evena, who was also injured, reportedly leaves Barbados every year around the anniversary of the accident.