The Tribune

By EARYEL BOWLEG

Tribune Staff Reporter

ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

A 29-year-old man died after waiting nearly an hour for an ambulance following a hit-and-run in Exuma, with his family questioning whether the delay cost him his life.

Police said Deno Rolle was struck by an unidentified vehicle shortly after 6.20pm Tuesday while riding west along Queen’s Highway near Hooper’s Bay. He was thrown from the borrowed motorcycle and suffered severe head and knee injuries.

His sister, Lakesha Rolle, said she and their mother arrived at the scene to find him unresponsive.

“He was there lying on the floor, just pouring blood,” she said, adding that her brother didn’t own his own bike and rarely rode. “Someone was there, holding his head and just telling him to keep calm but he wasn’t moving.”

Family members said they could not move him because of the severity of his injuries. They waited close to an hour for an ambulance.

He was taken to the Exuma Healthcare Facility and died around 11pm while awaiting airlift to New Providence.

“They did everything they could have done to assist him,” she said. “The air ambulance didn't take long. It's just that it is what it is. But the service at the clinic was good. It’s just the ambulance took a long time to get him there.”

Residents in Exuma have repeatedly raised concerns about access to healthcare, particularly ambulance response times.

Free National Movement candidate for Exumas and Ragged Island Debra Moxey Rolle said the delay demands action.

“Fifty eight minutes,” she said. “No family in Exuma should have to endure standing by while a loved one remains in critical condition, waiting nearly an hour for help to arrive.”

She said longstanding problems with emergency response remain unresolved.

Ms Rolle said an ambulance should be permanently stationed on the island to improve response times.

She also said there have been no leads in identifying the driver and questioned why the person left the scene.

“You should have stopped to see the person is okay,” she said. “If it wasn't intentional, turn yourself in, just face the consequences.”

Rolle was the youngest of six siblings. His sister said their last conversation was about him attending his nephew’s PTA meeting on Monday because she could not go. He had worked as a boat captain for nearly 11 years. Relatives fondly remembered an incident where he previously saved a tourist from drowning.