Roy Odel Welchman, the 15-year-old lad who lose his life Sunday last after being crushed by a skidder, was at the time visiting his sick father in Kwakwani.
Welchman allegedly slipped off the side of a truck and fell between the wheels of a skidding machine at Bisarooni Backdam, Region 10. He was at the time working with T. Bovell Concessions.
The young man, a former student of School of Excellence in Linden, was said to be working with the company to earn some money since his father was unwell.
According to a relative, Welchman used the opportunity to “ketch his hand”. Welchman had only been working with the company for a short time, and was tasked with record keeping.
“He [was] a student, but he recently travelled there to visit his sick father and like all young men, when they get bored, they do want to look work, you know, so he just went to ketch he lil raise in the meanwhile he was there,” the relative said.
On Sunday, at about 17:30h at 16 km Bisarooni Backdam, Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice), Welchman was in the company of a driver and a porter when the accident took place.
According to the police, the driver used the skidder to leave the backdam, and on the way out, the skidder hit a bump causing the teen, who was reportedly standing on the left side of the machine, to lose his balance and fall.
The operator immediately brought the skidder to a halt, and in doing so, it ran over the teen.
The driver and the porter rushed the injured young man, who was still conscious at the time, to the Kwakwani Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
The police noted that the 15-year-old’s body was examined and it was observed that it had bruises to both temples, swelling of the face and eyelids, a bruise to the left forearm, and bruises on the upper left side of the back.
Up to late Tuesday afternoon, the operator of the machine along with the porter were released on station bail as police continue their investigations.
