Old Harbour man dies from aneurysm 18 months after hit and run accident

In November 2019, the New Harbour Village II resident who lives alone was riding his bicycle one night along East Street, Old Harbour, when he was hit by a motor vehicle that didn’t stop.

The incident left the young man unconscious as he was taken by the police to the Spanish Town Hospital from where he was transferred to the Kingston Public Hospital (KPH). For five six weeks Baxter was in a coma at KPH as doctors tried their best to keep in him alive.

• Missing Old Harbour man in coma for weeks

At the same time his relatives filed a missing person report, as he suddenly went off the radar, quite an unusual turn in circumstances for someone who they communicated with frequently.

Baxter's beloved sister Karlene McLean became worried. She started to fear the worse given the country's high crime rate. She would drop everything she was doing and fly from Canada to Jamaica to get first hand answers about her brother's sudden disappearance.

The police's mismanagement of the matter made matters worse, as the authorities were unable to provide clear answers on his whereabouts. Eventually after weeks of persevering McLean was contacted by a doctor who informed her that Richie was in the hospital. In fact that phone call didn't come from just any regular doctor… it was the surgeon who literally saved Baxter’s life.
By this time a paralyzed Baxter was out of coma but would spend several more weeks in the hospital's intensive care unit before he was discharged.

Baxter's road to hopefully 'full recovery' was a long and tedious journey but worth it after all, as he regained his mobility, sight and much of his mental faculties, but unable to resume leading a normal life because of the extent of the physical and mental trauma sustained.

However, on April 24 the man who many said was a quality gardener, died at a family home in Clarendon after suffering a double brain aneurysm which the autopsy revealed.

“He recovered to an extent. He did sustained brain damage and he still had internal injuries in his bladder so from time to time he would be peeing and he would see blood,” McLean told Old Harbour News.

“He died from berry aneurysm and then from a very long aneurysm,” she added. “He was fainting all the time, he was having seizures all the time… he was told not to drink and not to smoke especially with the brain trauma that he sustained but he continue to do that from he started seeing and started walking again.

“Yes, he was able to talk, think for himself. There were times when you know that his head would go and come. But for the most part he would be able to carry on a conversation with you.”

Baxter’s body will be laid to rest on June 4.