Pilot's mom: Angels gave back life to my son

SHARON VASQUEZ, the mother of injured Caribbean Airlines pilot Christon Battersby, has called the tourists who helped save her son’s life “angels.”

Vasquez was speaking on March 20 during an appreciation function hosted by the THA Division of Tourism, Culture, Antiquities, and Transportation at its conference room in Scarborough, aimed at commending the valiant efforts of all those who were instrumental in the life-saving effort.

She said: “Angel Sarah, angel Anna, and the other angels who came and rescued, revived, and gave back life to my son. I want to say thank you from the bottom, the bottom of my heart. God is going to bless you all abundantly. You all families, you all extended families – it’s going to be rewarded by multitudes. Thank you all so much for recovering my son”

Battersby, she said, remains warded at the Scarborough General Hospital.

“I looked at him on his recovery bed and while I cannot hear him, he is motioning: I love you.''

According to police reports, 26-year-old Battersby of St Joseph was at the Pigeon Point Jetty with friends on March 15 when he jumped off the jetty.

The report said that Battersby hit his head on an object.

He was administered assistance by three lifeguards – Ainswell Mapp, Kern Jackson and Fred London – along with tourists Patrick Evans of the US, Sarah Persson of Sweden and Anna Hospedales of Canada.

Both women are trained in first response. They said that acting quickly is critical in saving lives, along with having the right equipment.

Persson said: “When I shook him, he had no pulse. I have been trained for situations like this, but I never had to do it in real life.”

Secretary Tashia Burris expressed her gratitude as well.

“Doesn’t matter if the rescue was perfect, doesn’t matter if you didn’t follow the textbook, doesn’t matter if it was perfect. Christon being here still is a miracle. That’s the takeaway.”

She added: “That is why I believe there are angels among us, everything that happened that day, had to happen. You could have picked a different beach to visit. You could have gone to Mt Irvine. You could have gone to Castara and the outcome would have been different, but you were there.”

She said as a tourist destination, there is need to examine the island's readiness, adding some reviews must be done.

“We talk about the parties and the culture, but are we ready for when it goes wrong?

"This is our opportunity to take stock, for us to look at our beachfront and ask ourselves: for the thousands of people who visit on any given weekend, do we have enough staff?

"Should we put emergency medical technicians on our beaches?

"Should we (have) ambulances on standby in southwest Tobago, especially on weekends when we know that we have our visitors from Trinidad."

She said the situation needs to be looked at holistically, "not just tourism, not just lifeguards, not just hospitals but the part that we all have to play in ensuring that the people who visit here can be safe when they visit here. And if something goes wrong – God forbid – we are ready to respond and that we’re ready to respond proactively.”

Tokens were distributed by Burris, the division’s Assistant Secretary Niall George and its Administrator Shelly Trim.