Mr World Caribbean 2024 Tarique Bailey says he is grateful for life after being hit from his motorcycle by a taxi on Sunday along Fairview Avenue in Spanish Town, St Catherine.

Bailey told Observer Online that he was on his way to Spanish Town when the incident occurred sometime after 5:00 pm.

“I left from Kingston, going to Spanish Town. I reached Fairview Avenue in Spanish Town, and then the last thing I remember is a car swerving. I heard it was a taxi, and then I was in the air, and I woke up at the Spanish Town Hospital,” he said.

Bailey first shared the sad news via an Instagram story on Sunday, of himself in a wheelchair with one of his hands and feet in bandages.

“I got a cut on the left foot… It’s not as bad as the right foot. The right foot suffered more damage. I’m feeling pain in the neck. I think this was caused by just being at the hospital because I slept in a wheelchair the entire… 24 hours that I was there,” Bailey added.

The model, who is also a delivery rider, has since been discharged from the hospital.

Bailey said he was initially told that he needed to do a CT scan, but after 24-hr observation, he was advised that the scan was no longer required.

“I am grateful because I was unconscious; anything could have happened. I could have hit my head badly. I could not have woken up. But I did. I regained consciousness. I understood the situation where I was and the degree of damage and so forth. Even though I feel pain, I am grateful to be here. It could have been much worse,” he said.