By Denise Clarke, Staff Reporter
Carlton Smith who saved his grandmother from flood waters. - File
WESTERN BUREAU:
WHEN CARLTON Smith leapt into flood waters to rescue his grandmother on New Year's Day, 2001, he had a singular thought saving Hyacinth Smith's life.
Carlton, who was just 14 years old and an amateur swimmer, did not even stop to think of his own safety. His courageous act, however, did not go unnoticed.
Today, National Heroes Day, Carlton will be one of two persons honoured for "valour and courage" with a Badge of Honour for Gallantry at the National Honour and Awards ceremony at Kings House.
The National Awards will honour 174 Jamaicans who have served the country with distinction.
The teenager, now 16, is not allowing the recognition to get to his head. As far as he is concerned, all he did was act to prevent what otherwise would have been grief for him and his family.
"I know she would have died," he said, looking back on that fateful day.
Carlton and the 56-year-old Mrs. Smith had left home in Sydenham, St. Catherine, on New Year's Day to attend a family reunion at Blytheson in St. James. This was to be their first reunion and the entire family was going to be present.
Travelling in Mrs. Smith's 1991 BMW motor car, the two were determined to reach their destination, despite the depressing downpour and rising waters they encountered on the journey. But the elements proved too much, and on reaching the Goodwill road in Trelawny, just about six miles from their final stop, they decided to turn back.
It was about 1:00 p.m. when Mrs. Smith parked her car and began to wait for the water to subside so that they could cross onto the Salt Marsh main road.
They were there for five hours when they saw a car pass through the water, and thought they would make a similar attempt since it was getting late.
Bad idea. The car was forced off the road and into a deep culvert on the left-hand side. As the water began to pour into the car, Carlton pulled his seatbelt and passers-by helped him out of the vehicle. However, when he told them that his grandmother was still inside the car, they tried to discourage him from going back in.
"They said don't bother to think about it because she suppose to dead already," he recalled. When they saw how determined Carlton was to rescue his grandmother, they decided to assist him. By that time, the car was completely submerged in the water. From the bank, several persons held on to his feet and over an estimated distance of two metres, they lowered him to the car. "I used my hands to break the sunroof. A Rasta guy gave me a knife and I used it to cut the seatbelt," he explained. Defying the odds that a 130-pound boy could lift a 155-pound woman, young Carlton, pulled his unconscious grandmother out of the car.
Mrs. Smith spent the night at the Falmouth Hospital, and was physically unscathed. Her near-death encounter, however, has left lasting scars.
"I can still clearly remember everything what happened that day, and it is still a little scary for me," Mrs. Smith told The Gleaner in an interview on Friday.
In fact, so haunted is she by the accident, that she avoids driving in the rain. The claims with the insurance company are just now being settled, as it was only several months ago that Mrs. Smith finally summed up the courage to finalise the documents.
Despite the trauma of the incident, she is happy that her grandson is being recognised for his bravery, but even more so is her gratitude to him for saving her life.
"I am very happy for him, and I hope he will be encouraged to look up and I pray he won't do certain things that other teenagers do," she said.
Carlton, who is now living with his parents in Palmers Cross, Clarendon, is just happy that his grandmother did not die that day. And as for the award, well: "I am not really a fussy person. I saw that I am getting an award and I am happy."
