Freak accident leaves Calder man seriously injured

Doctors in Trinidad and Tobago are hopeful that Brent Black may escape paralysis. This is after he fell 10 feet from the first floor of his two-storey house in a freak accident on Tuesday, September 30.{{more}}

Black’s mother Linda Black told SEARCHLIGHT at press time that her son was warded at the Intensive Care Unit of the St Clair Medical Centre, in Trinidad, after he had been flown out to Trinidad on Wednesday morning.

She said the encouraging news was given to her on Wednesday evening by Brent’s wife Nakiesha, who is in Trinidad with him.

Black and his wife Nakiesha had been on their way to work at around 7 a.m. When Black reached an unprotected area of the staircase, he attempted to kick a piece of bone off the step, slipped and fell.

When SEARCHLIGHT visited the Black’s Rivulet home, the concrete yard tile on which he hit his head when he fell showed clear signs of the impact of Black’s fall.

One of the first persons who came to Black’s aid was Franklyn Browne, who lives next door.

Browne recalled that when he heard Nakiesha cry out, he first thought that maybe one of Black’s dogs had escaped and had bitten someone.

He said that when he went to Black’s assistance, he saw him lying on his back.

“He said that he had no feeling from his shoulder down, but he was moving his hands and communicating well,” Browne said.

Browne, a valuator at the National Commercial Bank, told SEARCHLIGHT that Black was saying that he was going to be crippled and did not want to live like that.

“He said that he doesn’t want to live crippled and he would rather die,” Browne said.

A nurse who was attending to him and others around encouraged him to have faith, and then he began praying, asking God not to allow him to become crippled, Browne said.

Black, 34, is the Chief Executive Officer of Total Protection Security Services Ltd. He is also employed with the National Lotteries Authority (NLA) as the Collections Officer and Manager of Victoria Park. Black once served as bodyguard to Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves when he was Opposition Leader.

General Manager of the NLA, MacGregor Sealey told SEARCHLIGHT that the management and staff of the NLA are hopeful that Black will have a speedy and full recovery.