Unbearable: Students struggle to deal with deadly crash

Daraine Luton, Senior Staff Reporter

THE SCARS on the face of Demar Young tell the story of a lucky escape from a motor vehicle crash.

In 2008, Young, then a third-form student at Holmwood Technical High School in Manchester, was badly hurt, and many figured him dead after a minibus in which he was travelling to school collided with a truck on the New Green main road.

Young's fellow student, Shaneka Clarke, was killed in the crash.

Fast-forward three years, and Young, along with other members of the Holmwood family, is mourning the death of Venecia Buckle, Lyonsia Whyte, and Patrine Clarke, all of Trelawny addresses. The Holmwood students perished in a tragic crash in the parish Thursday after a minibus in which they were travelling ended up in a wall.

Sasha Gaye Wellington, head girl at the school, told The Gleaner yesterday that the burden of losing schoolmates was becoming unbearable.

"It is really hard for us to deal with these losses," she said.

As Holmwood conducted an emotional devotion yesterday, Young, now a fifth-form student, was at a loss for words as he reflected on his near-death ordeal and the tragic end his schoolmates met on Thursday.

As members of the clergy, business community, and other schools used the sombre ceremony to reflect on the horrific events, Young told The Gleaner it reminded him of the day he remembers so little about.