Army vehicle crashes into family of five, father has arm amputated

After losing his arm which he used to make a living, a tradesman and cricketer is putting his faith in God’s hands as he contemplates a dismal future.

Life for Jamie Lubon changed drastically on Monday night, when an army vehicle crashed into his car, shattering his peaceful existence and a conversation he was having with his wife and their three children in the back seat. The accident, which occurred at Bois Jean Jean, Moruga, around 8.20 pm, mangled his right arm so badly that it had to be amputated in an emergency surgery hours later.

Now the future looks grim for tradesman and sports enthusiast who used that particular hand to earn a living as a mason, to take care of himself and his young family.

From his bed at the San Fernando General Hospital, where he is warded after undergoing another surgery to remove blood clots from his chest and other injuries sustained from being pinned to the steering wheel of his car for almost an hour, Lubon contemplated his future.

“You see my condition. Is only God now I could depend on to pull me through. All I am studying now is my family,” he said.

His wife, Casie Fonrose , 24, and their three children, Emmanuel, four, Candy, two and eight-month old Jamieson, were returning to their Penal Rock Road home, after visiting Fonrose parents at Moruga, when tragedy struck.

Fonrose, Candy and Emmanuel are also warded at the hospital, with different ailments. Candy suffered a fractured arm and leg, while Fonrose and Emmanuel are experiencing excruciating pains in several parts of their bodies. Baby Jamieson has since been discharged.

Jamie’s grieving mother, Diane Lubon, wept, yesterday, as she spoke to the Newsday, recalling that the last of her six children depended on no one for his livelihood, but worked hard to care for himself and his family.

“Now who is going to take care of them,” Diane said. “He is an A-class mason. He was building his house next to mine at Penal Rock Road. His hand was his life. Now, he will never be able to work again.”

She became even more distraught as she spoke of the many trophies which lined the shelves of her home, mementos of Jamie’s prowess as a cricketer, as she realised he would never bowl another ball.

Diane said she had decided to go public with their concerns since no one from the army or the police had visited the family since the incident. She said, “I fear there would be a cover up, because the soldiers are already saying they swerved to avoid another vehicle when they crashed into Jamie’s car. That is not the story we got from eye witnesses. They said there was no other car.

“My daughter-in-law told me that she saw the army vehicle coming towards them and she screamed out ‘Jamie.’ She said she grabbed her three children close to her chest as her husband tried to pull to the side to avoid a head on crash, but the van was already on them.”