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Crash victim meets girls who helped him

Jerome Mader meets Cyana Burgess, left, and Sage Jackson (Photograph by Akil Simmons)

A motorcyclist has met the two teenage girls who stopped to help him after he suffered horrific injuries in a bike crash.

Jerome Mader thanked Cyana Burgess and Sage Jackson in person for the first time, more than eight months after the accident that could have cost him his life.

Mr Mader told The Royal Gazette he was “overwhelmed and speechless” to finally meet the two young girls who came to his aid as he lay by the side of the road.

The 29-year-old broke his back in two places and sustained major damage to the left side of his face and left eye when he lost control of his bike on North Shore Road near Gibbet Island on November 4, last year.

Last month he contacted this newspaper in a bid to track down the Good Samaritans who called 911 and stayed with him as he was put into an ambulance.

Ms Jackson, 17, saw the article in the newspaper and a reunion was organised last Thursday.

“There were times in the last month that I thought of reaching out to him and finding out how he was,” she said. “But I was always praying for him to make a good recovery.

“Then I saw the article and knew we had to meet up again. The last time the three of us were together like this was on the night of the accident.

“I’m very happy to see him doing so well.”

Ms Burgess, 17, added: “I remember seeing the helmet in the road and stopping to see what had happened.

“We saw his body by the side of the road and called 911. There was another lady there who was medically trained and we stayed with him and tried to reassure him until the ambulance came.

“It’s good to know he is getting better.”

During the past eight months Mr Mader has had extensive physiotherapy and been unable to work. He might still have to undergo further treatment to his left eye, his face and for seven teeth he lost. “The pain is a constant reminder of what happened that night,” he said. “But I have no recollection of anything leading to the crash. I just woke up in ICU with no idea what had happened.

“To meet up with these two girls and say thank you is very important to me.

“A lot of people came to my aid that night and I owe each one of them a great deal. Had they not found me when they did I may well have lost the sight in my left eye or even bled out.

“I think we will definitely stay in touch now that we have met up. I am truly grateful for what they did for me that night.”