ST THOMAS, Jamaica — The children of 79-year-old Lincoln Nicholson are seeking answers as their father fell in a hole on the Lyssons main road section of the Southern Coastal Highway just outside of Morant Bay, St Thomas.

The incident happened while he was walking to his doctor on Wednesday, April 10 about 1:00 pm. Nicholson, who lives on Lyssons Road, was taken to the Princess Margaret Hospital where he received medical care and was sent home.

His son Richard told Observer Online, “He was walking to the town and he dropped into the hole. The people them build some holes on the roadside that are supposed to carry water like drains and they are not finished doing what they are doing so the holes are open. Mi father is 79, so you know a 79-year-old man walking on the road and a lot of cars passing and I don’t know what happened and how my dad got into the hole. He alone was walking and two guys see him and pull him out of the hole, put him in a taxi and sent him to the hospital. Nobody was there with him. All of his right side is dead where he got that hit when he fell into the hole.”

The hole on the Lyssons main road section of the Southern Coastal Highway just outside of Morant Bay, St Thomas. (Photo contributed)

Richard said his father is now at the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) where doctors drew “loose blood” from his brain. He said his right side was swollen before he was admitted at the UHWI “but it kind of drawing down now”.

Cherry-Ann Nicholson-Padmore, his daughter, is concerned about the healthcare cost and the possible impact of the fall on her father.

“After going home he now cannot walk, he has to be using a diaper and the right side of him is dead. He was taken back to the Princess Margaret Hospital where he was treated and sent to Kingston to do a CT (computed tomography) scan, they found out that he had bruised blood in his head and had surgery on his brain at the University of the West Indies Hospital. He cannot do anything for himself and has to be wearing diapers. He was independent — cut his own lawn, rides a bicycle, and does everything for himself, so it’s hard for him now and for us also,” Nicholson-Padmore shared.

Seventy-nine-year-old Lincoln Nicholson is now in a wheelchair after he fell into a hole on Lyssons main road section of the Southern Coastal Highway just outside of Morant Bay, St Thomas. (Photo contributed)

“We need some accountability from the persons responsible for the road works; there is a bill at the University Hospital that is over $300,000 just for him to do the brain surgery. Where are we to get all of this money from? This man was okay,” she said.

Nicholson-Padmore said the hole is still open.

“I tried to send an email to CHEC (China Harbour Engineering Company), but still no answer; it’s like a dead-end,” she said.

“We want something to be done as the area is not fixed…it is still uncovered and the vehicles travel at such a speed,” the daughter added.

At the time of writing, the father has had surgery and has more checks to do at the UHWI in addition to therapy. However, the family wants the area fixed and hopes this does not happen to another person and that the relevant agencies act responsibly.

— Everard Owen