Cuts to the baby’s head required stitches, as this photo provided by the girl’s parents shows.
PHILIPSBURG--A four-month-old baby was seriously injured on Friday when bikers threw a big rock through the rear window of her parents’ car in which the little girl was transported.
The parents got the fright of their lives. The rock barely missed their child, but the shards of the rear window landed on the baby in her car seat, resulting in cuts to her forehead, cheeks, nose and around her eyes.
The perpetrator belongs to a group of bikers who constantly make road traffic unsafe with their antics on the road.
“We were on our way home from Port de Plaisance and drove over the causeway bridge when we got caught up in between more than 20 bikers,” said the father, who was driving the car. “Three motor riders in front of us started to do wheelies, from left to right, almost hitting our car.”
When approaching the speedbump halfway across the bridge, the father was forced to slow down. “That is when we got hit from behind. My intention was to stop, but to our great shock, the bikers went berserk.”
The couple immediately realised they were in danger. “I tried to get away as quickly as possible,” the father said. “At the end of the bridge, I turned left on Airport Road in the direction of the Simpson Bay bridge. We thought we had lost them at Banco di Caribe; for a moment I didn’t see the bikers. But then a rock shattered the rear window of our car.” The parents looked at their baby and found her covered with blood.
The little girl was taken to St. Maarten Medical Center. It turned out that she not only had cuts to her head and face, but also glass splinters in her eyes. Fortunately, these could be removed without permanent damage, while her injuries required stitching.
Somewhat recovered from the shock, the mother has a message for the perpetrator(s): “You threw a rock through our car window and our four-month-old daughter was injured badly. She was covered in glass and blood. She could have died. Fortunately, we were helped quickly in the hospital. They cleaned her up, removed the glass, and stitched up her tiny head.
“She has been a real trooper and perhaps you would like to know that she is doing well, apart from the scars on her head and face. I truly hope it was not your intention to hurt our baby, but I also hope you realise that you did this. Your actions were life-threatening, and I pray you will never act in such a way again. This time, it was the scare of our lives. Next time, it might be a life.”
This attack is not an isolated event. Reckless joyriders caused life-threatening events before. Thirty bikers were involved in a “mass rodeo” in February of this year, riding the wrong way on Rue de Hollande towards the Bellevue roundabout. One of the bikers sped towards one of four Gendarmes posted at the roundabout and seriously injured him. The perpetrator then drove off with the other motorbike riders.
The couple got the fright of their lives when a rock came through the rear window.
The rock barely missed the baby in her car seat.
