A 45-year-old volunteer diver at the Flat Bridge in St Catherine has described as “a wonderful energy” the act of saving motor vehicle accident victims from drowning in the Rio Cobre waters that run under the overpass.

The deceptively calm, treacherous waters coursing beneath the Flat Bridge – a beam bridge across the Rio Cobre on the A1 road connecting Kingston with the north coast tourist areas of Dunn’s River and Ocho Rios – have claimed many lives over the years.

This is the reason Sandera Slew, a resident of the surrounding Bog Walk area, said she started assisting those who have had the unfortunate experience of accidentally driving off the low-lying bridge and into the river.

“From me know myself and have sense I’ve basically been volunteering. It’s a brave mind and heart do it, you know. Number one, if you cannot swim you must not enter. So we always try we best, when somebody go over there, push out we hundred per cent. Not me alone, many more who born and grow round here do all a this,” Slew stated.

Slew recalled the last time she assisted in saving a man who drove off the bridge.

“I go over there and save a guy, me and one of my sisters. A guy went over there from the Bog Walk side. Me never see when him go over to be honest, I was inside and when me come out me hear the excitement so me just did grab me tool them, my hatchet, crowbar and my vest [life jacket],” Slew said, referencing a May 8, 2021 incident in which Jermaine Scott was rescued after his car went over the bridge.

“It is a wonderful energy,” she told OBSERVER ONLINE when asked about how she felt about saving lives.

“When you do them something deh you really feel proud. You really see you can make a difference and help,” Slew said.

However, she has also experienced the feeling of deep disappointment over loss of life.

She recalled an incident when a car went over the bridge and she couldn’t help the occupants, due to the rough waters.

“It was too heavy for me,” she stated, noting that that incident still weighs on her mind.

As such, she said she hopes the Government can see the value in the service the divers are providing and provide assistance, whether in the form of supplies or stipend, when they perform a rescue.

“It’s a dangerous job. But generation after generation do it round here,” Slew said.

Still, Slew indicated that, compared to years ago, the Flat Bridge divers are being called into action less because of flood gates that were constructed at points leading to the gorge. Less motorists are becoming trapped in the river during heavy rain, she said.

“Back then you used to have that difficulty with whole heap a people get trap round here, but now it nuh happen like that,” she said.

Slew learnt to swim from an early age. She could not conceal her smile as she shared with OBSERVER ONLINE how her father would gently place his hands below her stomach, supporting her weight, as he taught her how to swim.

Slew said the first time her father, Lewis, now 73, carried her to the river, she was no more than five years old.

“The first time him carry me out in a di water a right down there so,” Slew said, pointing to a section that is now overrun with bush. “Down there wasn’t so bushy, because back in the day that’s where all the people come and bathe and wash them clothes and catch them water.”

“He [would] have me out there and hold me under my belly while I paddle. Then further on now we start to swim out here and him swim with we. Just overall playing in the water until we start to swim good,” she continued, remembering how she would frolic with seven of her siblings.

“I have a good relationship with him,” she told OBSERVER ONLINE, as an endearing smile crept over her face.

“Then when we start fi go fi water we cya pass the river and nuh swim. All when we just bathe and hear seh go to get a pan a water over the pipeline, we throw the bottle or the bucket in the water and chuck off for it. It was a great experience growing up,” Slew said.