Belle Vue resident miraculously survives 25ft fall off ridge!
It was approximately 9:30 P.M. on Sunday January 6, 2013 when Rayon D. Bethune left the comfort of his warm bed to collect his wife, who was on her way home from work. They live at Belle Vue, Tortola. Mr Bethune ended up recording the worse experience of his life. It all happened as he was reportedly driving up the steep unpaved Sabbath Hill road, lost control of his car and ended up crash landing more than twenty five feet off the ridge of the road, escaping only with a broken rib, a nagging pain in the chest and minor bruises about his left shoulder, right thigh and other parts of his body.
His Hyundai Toussaint 2006 car carrying the license plate number PV17324 has been totally wrecked and, with a third party insurance, no hope of compensation.
Still folding in pains after being discharged from Peebles hospital where he spent one night as an in-patient, Mr. Bethune told Virgin Islands News Online that as he had reached the top of the hill where there is a deep bend, there were two vehicles parked in his lane at the top. “Because of how the two vehicles were parked I had to take the other side of the road to go around the bend.” The path was so narrow that he realized that he was driving only on three wheels after going over to the other lane.
“I couldn’t continue, so I decided to reverse with the intention of trying another strategy of making the turn since my lane was total blocked with the two vehicles,” he explained. As he was on the reverse, the loose pebbles on the fair weather dirt and granite road spared no bones as the car failed to hold traction, causing the driver to lose control as the car kept on the decline in the reverse when, “I tried to pull the car on the one side (along the wall side of the road) but those bricks just keep washing me over the other side.” He said that he was locked in his seat belt at the time. “Hand brakes and everything went up when it took the edge and it (the car) just did what it had to do.”
Having done all he possibly could have, Bethune realized that he was fighting a losing battle. “When I saw that there was nothing else I couldn’t do, I say that well Ray this is your time, lets go.” With that he said he let go of the steering wheel as the car took to the edge of the road and toppled off, landing some twenty five feet down in a yard. Ironically, the yard where the car landed was the home of the Bethune’s. The car landed wheels down but was totally wrecked.
During the process of the fall, Bethune said that he ended up in the passenger side of the car although at the time he was wearing his seat belt. In shock to have been alive, he said that he managed to pull himself over to the back left side of the car where he made his exit, rolling in pain all over, he crawled to the door of his landlord’s apartment for help.
“The land lord wasn’t home, in pain I had to go back to the car to get my cell phone to call my wife but by then the landlord reach home and he rushed me off to Peebles Hospital in Road Town. It didn’t make sense to call the ambulance because they would have taken much too long to find this place,” he said.
While Mr Bethune was going through his ordeal, his wife was still at the top of another hill not very far off pondering what was taking him so long to get where she was. “I kept calling and calling his phone and he was not answering and I got very worried.” The woman said that she started walking towards home. Along the way she was offered a ride home twice but did not accept because she was convinced that her husband had already left to get her. “Even the landlord passed me and I say Ray was coming for me...But then as I was coming I hear this heavy bang one time then I heard a louder bang shortly after and said I hope this is not rayon. Man you got to see the video,” she said.
Mrs. Bethune said that her knees crumbled when she got to the bottom of the hill and realised what had happened to her husband. “In matter of seconds he managed to get out the car, he crawled to the landlord door, he got up and the pain was so much if you see how he go down back to the ground and all he keep doing is looking back at the car. You could tell he was shock to know how he survived that,” said the obviously still shaken wife. The entire ordeal was captured on video as the house, which has several apartments, was surrounded with surveillance cameras.
“The sound that I heard there I would never forget, it will live in my head forever,” said the wife.
Neighbours reported that the following day, Monday January 7, 2013, a government official visited the residents but at the time Mr. Bethune was still hospitalized and his wife was not at home. They did give a name of the Minister/District representative that visited but Virgin Island News Online was unable to make contact with the official for confirmation.
They said that an assurance was given that the road is slated to be completely paved early this year.
“Two years now we living here and this road is the worst on this island,” said Mr. Bethune adding that before the Christmas holiday the road was at its worst but some works were recently done.”
The family has joined other residents in the area to appeal to Government to erect rails along the steep and sharp edged road and to have it paved. “Now when I nearly lose my life here, now is when they saying how they going pull forward the works to complete the road much earlier than scheduled,” said a distraught Rayon Bethune.
“I am the big looser here now all because of negligence of these slow to act leaders, my car write off, can’t get anything from insurance, can’t work at least for now, my wife is in an emotional state of shock still, people more scared to drive down or up this hill and I could go on and on.”
That said, the Bethune family is thankful for life since the end result could have been much worse.
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32 Responses to “Belle Vue resident miraculously survives 25ft fall off ridge!”
Secondly alot of these drivers who block the road to talk to people and on their cell phones, should take a trip to places like Jamaica and see if they don't get their head blown off. They stop in traffic for as long as they want and block you and you better like it. Where is so call super cop when you need him?
Thank God the gentleman made it out safe.
May the GOD that we know and serve continue to watch over you both! We thank him for his GRACE which is sufficient and his MERCY which is everlasting! To all those who are tempted to add negative comments; think before you type! God bless!