Father with prosthetic leg, infant son killed in crash while en route to cash newborn grant cheque

Krishna Persaud, 22, was slowly beginning to rebuild his life with his young family.

“Mark,” as he was known by family and friends, had been struck down by a drunk driver last May. The injuries were severe and doctors were forced to amputate his right leg just below the knee.

Unable to work and provide for his wife, Nanvita, and their young son Marcus, the loss tormented him. But there was another reality he had to come to grips with: Nanvita was pregnant with their second child.

What would they do? How could they bring another child into the world when he could no longer work?

The couple had not planned their second child, but despite uncertainty about Mark’s ability to provide, they decided to move forward together.

“They didn’t think about an abortion or anything like that; they decided to push through together,” said Marcy, Mark’s only sister.

In time, Mark received an artificial limb and slowly began adjusting to life again.

He was eventually able to secure a job requiring less mobility with the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo), where he had previously worked as a weeder before the accident.

Four months ago, their baby Luke was born. The proud father and his newborn son quickly became inseparable.

Last Friday, after receiving a $100,000 cheque under the government’s cash grant programme for newborns, Mark set out on his motorcycle to travel to a bank at Parika, East Bank Essequibo, to cash it.

On the bike with him were Nanvita and baby Luke.

They never reached the bank.

Within minutes, the young father who had fought so hard to rebuild his life – and the baby he had just begun raising – were gone.

Mark and his baby son were killed when the motorcycle they were travelling on crashed into a lorry around 11:00 a.m. Friday on the Orangestein Public Road, East Bank Essequibo.

Police said the lorry was exiting the Blue Sky Shopping Mall parking lot when the motorcycle, which had allegedly overtaken a stationary vehicle, collided with the front of the turning truck.

The riders were thrown onto the road and rushed to the De Kinderen Regional Hospital.

Mark and his infant son would never return alive to the modest home he had built behind his parents’ property at Meten-Meer-Zorg, West Coast Demerara.

Nanvita survived the crash but remains hospitalised with multiple injuries.

“She keeps asking for her son and husband,” said Rosezana, Nanvita’s sister.

A young love

The tragedy has left relatives struggling to come to terms with the loss of a young couple many say were inseparable.

Nanvita, originally from Zeelugt, East Bank Essequibo, first met Krishna at a supermarket near her home.

Her older sister Kelly recalled that Nanvita was still a teenager when the relationship began.

“She was about 16 when they met,” Kelly said. “They were crazy about each other. Nobody could get between them.”

Both families supported the relationship and even set a wedding date. But before the wedding could take place, the couple decided to move in together at Krishna’s family home.

Their first child, Marcus, was born two years ago.

Then came the accident last May that resulted in Mark losing part of his leg.

But he was determined not to stay off his feet, accepting the challenge of walking again with an artificial limb.

“He was getting accustomed to it. Sometimes he would stress about it, but I would sit and talk with him,” Marcy said. Mark was her only brother, and she was his only sister.

“We were only two – just me and him,” she said. “I could depend on him for anything.”

Road safety warning

Traffic Chief Mahendra Singh said the crash highlights the dangers of failing to observe road rules.

“The careful use of the road is not the responsibility of the other driver,” Singh said. “It is your responsibility as a motorist to proceed with caution and observe the rules of the road.”

He noted that while overall traffic accidents have declined by 28% this year, fatalities have increased.

So far in 2026, police have recorded 24 fatal accidents resulting in 26 deaths, compared with 18 fatal accidents and 20 deaths during the same period last year.

Singh urged motorists to practice defensive driving, warning that negligence on the road continues to cost lives.

The bodies of Mark and baby Luke now lie at the mortuary as relatives begin planning their funerals.

Nanvita remains in hospital recovering from her injuries – and facing life without the husband she loved, raising their two-year-old son Marcus alone.