Exclusive | Woman trailer driver recalls trying to avoid deadly crash in Linstead

Exclusive | Woman trailer driver recalls trying to avoid deadly crash in Linstead

July 22, 2021 0 By Horace Mills

Trailer driver Shaneal Graham and the deceased Samora Blissett. Photos provided

Businesswoman and trailer driver Shaneal Graham, who lives near Kellits in Clarendon, is happy to be alive.

But she feels distressed knowing that another motorist died in a crash in which she was involved on the night of July 16.

She is convinced that she did everything possible to prevent the crash, which claimed the life of 34-year-old Samora Blissett from Polly Ground in Ewarton, St. Catherine.

His family told The Beacon that he died moments after hosting a round-robin event in his community. At the time of the crash, he was heading to Bog Walk.

The incident happened near the main entrance to Charlemont Housing Scheme in Linstead, St. Catherine.

“I feel so bad from the moment it happened,” said Graham. She told The Beacon that it was her first time being involved in an accident since she started driving just over 16 years ago.

She frequently participates in motor vehicle auctions across the island, and is no stranger to driving trailers.

Graham explained that, at the time of the crash, she was heading from Portmore in St. Catherine where she had pick up two vehicles purchased in a Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) auction.

“I had one vehicle on the wrecker bed and one pulling,” she noted.

Graham stated that, when she reached near Charlemont Housing Scheme’s main entrance, she saw a speeding car travelling in the direction of Linstead.

She was heading in the other direction.

She added: “The car was drifting from its side [of the road] and came straight over my side. I tried to avoid the collision while I am on my side. I actually took the front of the truck off the road and ride the embankment to avoid colliding with them, but they still collided… The car was coming real fast, and the driver didn’t even draw brakes…

“When the car hit the truck, it spin in front the truck and turn back up the road [where it was coming from]. That’s how fast the driver was coming,” Graham further explained.

A video showed three passengers – two men and a woman – trapped in the front passenger seat of the car.

Graham stated that she, as well as the occupants of the car, were taken to Linstead Public Hospital. Some persons who were traveling in the car eventually were transferred to Spanish Town Hospital.

“I have experience in the medical field, and sitting down there conscious that I was involved in everything that happened, I don’t feel good about it,” Graham said. “Being in the hospital [in Linstead] and hearing the persons from the car crying out for help and having pains and stuff like that, I even told my husband I don’t feel like going back out on the road to drive.”

Graham said her step-son, who was travelling in the front of the trailer with her, was not injured.

But she is still feeling pains. She actually was released from hospital two days after the crash transpired.
Graham further disclosed that, so far, the police and fire personnel have questioned her in relation to the incident.

The trailer, she added, is still in the possession of the police.

“I still have vehicles out there to pick up and I have deadlines to pick up those vehicles at stations island-wide. Now, I am in the middle of nowhere because they (police) have to do their investigations and stuff like that,” said the crash survivor and owner of Young Giant G Auto Limited.

The JCF, which is still investigating, previously said: “Reports from the Linstead Police are that, about 10:45PM, Blissett was driving his Toyota Corolla motor vehicle when he lost control of the vehicle and collided in a motor truck. He was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead.”


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