A Princes Town woman had to have emergency surgery yesterday after a 20-foot beam fell approximately 25 feet from a roof and hit her while she was working inside a supermarket. Sherry Davis, 30, of Cedar Hill Village, Princes Town, was at Super Foods Supermarket, Claxton Bay junction, around 10.30 am when the beam fell on her.
The building is under renovations and the owner is constructing a roof. An eyewitness said the beam was on scaffolding, which shifted, causing it to come crashing through the ceiling and hit Davis who was in the meat room. Her left arm was crushed as she tried to shield her face as it came towards her. She was unconscious for about four hours.
Doctors at the San Fernando General Hospital, where she was taken by ambulance, ordered an X-ray and CT scan to see whether there was any injury to her skull. Davis’s common-law husband, Roger Kennedy, 38, is calling for an immediate investigation. He said no report was made to the police and one of his wife’s co-workers called him two hours after she was injured.
“When it happen, they just call an ambulance and got her out of there. They never made any report to the police,” he added. St Margaret’s police confirmed no one had reported the incident to them. Kennedy added he was shocked that the supermarket was open for business as usual an hour after the accident. The T&T Guardian visited the supermarket around 11.30 am and spoke to the owner, who said: “I don’t need this kind of publicity now. Don’t write this.”
The owner, who did not want to give his name, said the contractor and his employees had left for lunch were due to resume work later. Several staff members, speaking anonymously, said they were fearful for their lives.
