First responder Aunty G lucky not to be on ill-fated bus

GEORGIETHA NANTON, ONE of the first responders at the scene of Sunday’s deadly accident in Old Sandy Bay said she is thankful that she was not on board the ill fated vehicle, H8190, which crashed and claimed the lives of five persons.

THE MANGLED WRECK of passenger bus H8190 is being recovered at Old Sandy Bay. Five persons lost their lives and others seriously injured when the bus crashed while taking passengers to a funeral.

Just about an hour or so before the accident, Nanton was standing at the roadside in Georgetown, awaiting transportation to get to Owia.

Like so many others on that day, she wanted to attend the funeral of Rohan ‘Charla’ Rawlins who was shot and killed at Lowmans Bay on August 15. Rawlins was closely related to Nanton.

She felt that she had to attend her cousin’s funeral to bid him her final farewell.

In an interview with SEARCHLIGHT yesterday, September 12 Nanton said while she was waiting for transportation, the van H 8190 passed.

“I [tried to stop] … the van to take me to Owia, but it did not stop,” Nanton recalled.

She said the van appeared to be full.

She continued to wait and eventually got a taxi to take her to Owia.

Nanton said two male passengers were in the taxi, and they too had tried to stop the same van, but it did not stop.

Nanton said when they reached the top of the hill near Boney in Old Sandy Bay, she realized that something was wrong.

As the taxi continued driving down the hill, Nanton spotted the overturned van.

“All I could do was ask the driver to stop, so that we could help these people.”

The popular Georgetown resident described the scene of the accident as “bloody tragedy.”

Apart from the bodies lying about, Nanton recalled that there were people pinned under the vehicle and they were moaning for help.

“I wanted to get help for these people, to get an ambulance or something to save their lives.”

Nanton is also a Facebook blogger and used her page ‘The beauty of SVG with Aunty G’, to summon assistance.

Her first video from the scene was an emotional appeal for assistance, that alerted the nation to the tragedy.

“It was the first time that I was experiencing something like that in my life.

“I saw people dead and people just hanging on to life,” Nanton recalled.

In her videos, Nanton protected her viewers from the bloody scenes around her.

With no formal training in First Aid, Nanton and others did as much as they could to prevent further loss of life.

“It was devastating, just unbelievable. I saw someone with their limb totally smashed, it was a very painful scene.”

Apart from doing the live videos, Nanton took control of the accident scene until the police and ambulance arrived.

She then continued on her journey to Owia to attend her cousin’s funeral.

Nanton said she is thankful that she was able to help, and even more thankful that she was not one of the casualties.