Beacon of the day | Trelawny commuter recalls making ‘life-saving’ phone call

Beacon of the day | Trelawny commuter recalls making ‘life-saving’ phone call

June 14, 2021 1 By Horace Mills

Dacian Shaw, better known as ‘Neika’, did not turn a blind eye – a fact that she thinks may have resulted in a life being spared.

Her humanitarian instinct started kicking in on the morning of June 2 while she travelled in a taxi from her home in Duanvale district, Trelawny.

She was on the highway heading into Falmouth town when she saw a man lying face-down along the busy roadway.

Shaw alerted the taxi driver, who stated that he did not see the man because he was focusing on the road.

“I stopped the car and came out near the town [of Falmouth],” Shaw explained.

She added that she telephoned the Emergency Department of the Jamaica Fire Brigade in Kingston, and they transferred her call to their colleagues at Falmouth Fire Station.

When The Beacon contacted the Falmouth Fire Station, it confirmed receiving the call.

Elaborating on the call she made, Shaw said: “I explained that I just passed a man lying down on his face unconscious. The lady [on the phone] asked if I am sure he is not a mad man sleeping on the roadside. I said he doesn’t look like a mad man because he had a bag on his back and was in clean clothes.”

Acting on the information Shaw provided, emergency personnel at Falmouth Fire Station went to the location and assisted the man.

Shaw, who went on to conduct her business, said she later contacted the emergency team for an update.

“When I reached home, I called them to check up on the man. They told me that he fainted because he was walking from a long distance and he never got anything to eat; so they gave him something to eat. They also told me that they get his family members’ number from him, and they came to pick him up,” Shaw explained.

She is happy that she intervened.

“All I know is that God sent me right in time to save this man’s life. Thanks to the Emergency Department at the fire station in Falmouth who took the time out to assist. I don’t know the man, but I did my best to save him. Being a First Aider, I know the different signs.”

Shaw, in the meantime, lamented how many motorists drove past the man without stopping to check on him.

“What hurt me the most is how the road was busy and nobody stopped by to see what happened to the man. Look how near to him they drive; one of them could drive over him too,” she noted.

Shaw urged motorists to become more observant and benevolent. “Please look out for others when driving on the road,” she further advised.


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