FRIDAY the 13th, regarded as a day of bad luck by superstitious humans, turned out to be just that for a woman who fell into foul-smelling water in a rugged drain behind a bus stop on Dawkins Drive in Portmore, St Catherine.

While residents of the municipality were unable to point to the source of the water, many who frequent the area or operate businesses nearby told the Jamaica Observer this problem has persisted for at least a year.

The woman, who is a domestic helper, explained that she went to a nearby bank to get a bank card for her daughter. After leaving the bank, her plan was to head to work and send her daughter home.

“I told my daughter to go over to Big Buy and get change from the fruits man so she could get bus fare. I was standing by the bridge and she came and said she didn’t get any change. I saw a bus coming and said I would beg some change from the bus and give it to her. By the time I walked off, my foot slipped and I just pitched right over,” the woman told the Observer.

“A gentleman tried to hold me but he was coming down with me into the water so he had to let me go and I fell right in the water. I felt so ashamed. My bag was wet, my ID and everything got wet in the water. Even the money got lost in the water,” she related.

“A lady came by and a gentleman from Big Buy had to come and wash me off. I was so messed up,” she said.

“When I was in the water all I could say was, ‘Father God, help me,’ the woman added.

“I can swim and float, so that wasn’t a problem, but the way how mi drop, it was so disgusting. It looks like a bottle even cut me; even now it is bleeding. I took some Dettol and washed it off but it is still bleeding,” she told the Observer hours after the ordeal on Friday.

“The water was so stink. A lady was trying to cheer me up and help wash me off and give me wipes. I am going to have to drink some cerasee tea,” the woman said, then made an appeal: “I wouldn’t mind if the authorities could help me get back a little money in my hand. I can’t go back to work for now because I can’t wear any shoes. I am a domestic helper and I had to call in and tell the supervisor that I fell in dirty water and got a cut on my foot.”

On Friday a number of people at the bus stop expressed disgust at the condition of the drain, complaining of the putrid smell.

“The smell makes you feel bad and gives you upset stomach. It is not good for the environment. People pass here every day and the other day a lady fell off in it,” one man, who gave his name as Evon, told the Observer.

“It needs to be rectified; and sometimes there is the mosquito thing in the evening. It’s not good,” he said.

Two nurses who were awaiting public transportation at the bus stop also complained about the odour. One of them, who was wearing a face mask, said the stench from the water was one of the reasons she was wearing the mask.

“The scent is killing everybody. You don’t smell it? I am wearing the mask because of it and other reasons as well,” she said.

This man stands on a bridge that spans a rugged drain containing putrid water on Dawkins Drive in Portmore, St Catherine, last Friday.