Motorist accused of mowing down cyclist Andre Simon appears in court

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National cyclist Andre Simon was badly injured in the May 8 incident
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By Latrishka Thomas

[email protected]

The motorist alleged to have struck national cyclist Andre Simon leaving him critically injured made another appearance in traffic court yesterday, and was told that his committal hearing has been postponed to October 5.

Kenyatta Benjamin, 39, of Hatton was charged with dangerous driving after he allegedly knocked down Simon and three other cyclists, Sean Weathered, Ghere Coates and Tiziano Rosignoli, on May 8.

All four men received hospital treatment, but while the other three were later discharged the Mother’s Day incident landed Simon in the ICU for quite some time.

He experienced head trauma and internal bleeding as a result of the incident.

It wasn’t until July 16 that Simon – while in a wakefulness coma – was transported to a medical facility in Texas for further treatment.

The latest update from Simon’s family said a cap had been placed on the tracheostomy tube which had been helping him breathe.

“This encourages him to breathe through his nose and/or mouth,” his brother Dwayne Simon wrote in a Facebook post on July 23.

Dwayne also told the public that Simon is “demonstrating small signs of awareness,” whereby he is able to respond to doctors through head movements.

However, his decubitus ulcer – a pressure wound on his posterior – “appears to be healing very slowly,” Dwayne added.

Many fundraisers have been held and continue to be hosted across the nation in an effort to raise more than US$500,000 for Andre’s medical bills.

An online GoFundMe account – found at https://gofund.me/49f11497 – has so far raised more than US$63,100.

Interested parties can also make donations via the Caribbean Union Bank at account #20004089, the Community First Credit Union at account #098425, or the Eastern Caribbean Amalgamated Bank at account #131003564.

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