March 28, 2024

INFO 10

THE TRUTH IN BLACK AND WHITE

I am surviving but not living

-says BOSAI employee who survived two industrial accidents

Fabian Anthony while in hospital

By Abiola Archer

For any male in their thirties, life for them has just begun; they have so much left to be achieved before retirement and so much to experience with the ones they love. For thirty-year-old Fabian Anthony, an employee attached to BOSAI Minerals Guyana Inc, his life will never be the same and the things he dreamt of experiencing with his family and friends, may never happen. A day in his life, he explained, is something he would not wish on his worst enemy. It is filled with tears, physical and emotional pain, mental fatigue and anxiety as a result of financial struggles.

Like many youths in Linden, securing a job in the bauxite company was something he aspired to do but what he did not know is that his job would have been responsible for the worst day in his life. In fact, BOSAI was the company he was directing his attention to, after completing a course in Internal Combustion Engines at the Linden Technical Institute, in 2011. He was employed as a heavy-duty mechanic. On February 2nd, 2020, a section of an overhead crain fell and hit him to his head, rendering him unconscious. Six years before that, Anthony survived an accident in the East Montgommery Mines, when he was just an apprentice at the company. A truck collided with a pickup, which resulted in the death of three employees. In the first accident, Anthony was hospitalised with torn ligaments, back injuries and had to use crutches for sometime.

After making a full recovering, he return to the job, because he was earning a decent salary and was preparing to start his family. Years later, as a result of a faulty crane, he was hit to the head, but unfortunately this time around, he has not made a full recovery, even after one year in the hospital and  major surgeries. Anthony received a massive puncture to the skull, left temporal epidural hematoma, right occipital laceration, left temporal bone open depressed fracture, cerebral contusion, and post-traumatic subarachnoid haemorrhage. Anthony underwent emergency surgeries performed by Guyanese Neurosurgeon Dr. Amarnauth Dukhi on February 2, 3, and 5, 2020 at the St Joseph’s Mercy Hospital

 He told INFO 10, that his life has changed socially, phyically, financially, emotionally and psychologically .  Anthony never wore spectacles before the accident but now he does. He has life scars to his head and face. His communication skills changed; he doesn’t communicate a lot and has a problem to explain how he feels or what he wants to say. Anthony’s diet was changed also, he is expected to eat foods to maintain the brain. Other health effects include loss of memory, severe back pain and steady fainting. One of his coworker said , “A day Fabian fainted at work in the tool kit, the door was locked and someone had to jump through the window to open the door to fetch him out”. In addition, he endures sleepless nights because of pain, hypertension, loss of mobility in his feet, inability to lift heavy ítems, amongst other complications.  Anthony’s wife Macy Anthony,  said, “after the surgery, Fabian came home as a new person, like a robot with all memories erased, we had to introduce everyone and everything back to him, he once said I don’t have a wife and at intervals would ask where things in the house came from, that he himself bought, he also said that he has one child.”

One of his daughters  said, “It was like an emotional heartbreak for us, why this hurt us the most, is because this was the man who loved and cherished us and he had forgotten our names. It left me so devastated to see him in that condition.”

In fact, his wife said his condition was so bad, that the doctors deemed him medically unfit and said he should not return to work at all as a result of the life-long effects on his brain, but he remains the sole-bread winner for the family, hence he made a decision to return, since he is a father of four.

Upon his return, he was placed in the tool crib, where he distributes tools to his co workers in the fields, but he earns lower than he did before the accident as a mechanic. One of his daughters who attended a private school had to be placed in the public system. One of his daughters who recently secured the Bishop’s High School at the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA), may not be able to attend the school, given the financial limitations of the family. His wages are also severely affected, since he relapses often and is placed on sick leave. In fact, he recently returned to work after 10 days of sick leave.

The family has taken a position to file a law suit against BOSAI for $ 100 M. He claims the company inadequately compensated him and his medical bills amounted to more than $20 M. He was offered $2 M full compensation for the accident, something he believes was as a result of negligence on the company’s behalf.  

Fabian Anthony in happier times

Anthony is hoping to receive overseas medical care to restore his brain and bodily functions to the level they were before the accident but he cannot afford to do so. He says his salary from Bosai did not exceed $240,000 per month.

One of the scars Anthony is lift with post-surgery


He is also unable to ascertain whether National Insurance Scheme or any other insurance, will be able to cover the costs for specialist medical care needed but only available overseas.
As a result, he has detailed in the Statement of Claim, that the estimated cost of his medical expenses including surgery overseas will cost at least $20M. This includes medical expenses for indefinite seizures prophylaxis and pain management. He calculates his loss of earnings to date, to be about $15 million.
He wants in excess of $50 million for negligence of the company that resulted in the accident that has altered his life. The document noted too that Anthony’s lawyer (Anderson) prior to filing the lawsuit, reached out to the Bosai Minerals Group to try and reach a reasonable term of settlement for his client. However, Anderson claims that Bosai has not accepted liability but has made an offer of settlement. The company outlined in a letter that it is offering Anthony $2 million as “full settlement” for his claim.
Anderson said that this is not even close to enough of what his client needs. The lawyer nonetheless noted that under the Common Law of England which is applicable in Guyana, the Bosai Minerals Group owes a duty to Anthony to take reasonable care to avoid acts or omissions which can reasonably be foreseen as likely to injure its employee.
Further or in the alternative under the Common Law, he contended that the company owes his client a duty of care to ensure that his work environment is free of all harms and hazards. Once the matter goes to trial, Anderson says that the negligent breaches of the company resulted in his client suffering severe head and general injuries will be highlighted in his pleadings.