In the blink of an eye, Stephen Arthur went from having lunch and relaxing under a tree in his SUV to being upside down in the waters just off Miami Beach.
Driver Stephen Arthur being helped out of overturned vehicle. (inset) The Overturned vehicle just off Miami Beach.
Luckily for him Arthur escaped serious injury during the freak accident, which occurred just after 1 p.m. yesterday behind the Oistins Post Office, Oistins, Christ Church.
While no one was able to ascertain what caused Arthur – the lone occupant in his Daihatsu Terios SUV – to smash into another vehicle and drive about 30 feet before toppling 15 feet over some precariously jagged rocks, the quick actions of a passerby prevented what could have been a tragic situation.
Arthur is said to have received minor injuries and was treated at the nearby Randall Phillips Polyclinic for shock.
Eyewitnesses said the resident of Six Roads, St Philip was in his car having lunch seconds before the accident occurred.
One man who witnessed the bizarre incident told Barbados TODAY he had never seen anything like that.
“One minute the jeep was there under the tree and the next thing, I see it driving going over those rocks out there,” he said as he pointed to the area where the SUV went over.
“I thought he was going to press brakes to stop it from going into the sea, but that never happened.”
The owner of the car which Arthur’s SUV struck said he was walking back to his car when he saw the vehicle headed for the rocks.
“The man was there parked eating food, then all of a sudden I just hear people shouting, saying that the man gone over. I looked over and saw the car in the water, and then a woman jumped into the sea to save him,” the man who requested anonymity explained.
“Then when I went to my car I realized it was not the same place. When I checked, I realized that he had hit my car.”
The accident attracted a large crowd of onlookers, including school children waiting at the Oistins Bus Terminal.
Arthur’s wife, who did not give her name, said she was relieved that her husband was “alright” and that the extensive damage to the vehicle was the least of her worries.
“I thank God that he is alive. You can always get back a car, but you can’t get back life. So I thank God. I don’t base my life on possessions.
“They told me that he hasn’t sustained any serious injuries as yet, but that he was in shock,” the middle-aged woman revealed.