SEWRHONI Mohan: Why did she do it?

[Guest Kurt]

Why did this crash survivor kill herself?

...two years after triple tragedy

The crash that killed everyone, but spared Sewrhoni Mohan.

SEWRHONI Mohan awoke early that morning and prepared a meal for her husband.

As he packed the tools of his trade to head out to work just after daybreak, she told him that while he was gone she would meet her church colleagues to continue the ministry they had been doing in their community.

When he left, she closed the doors and shut out the world.

He came home to find her dead. She had placed a plastic bag over her head and suffocated herself to death.

Why did she do it?

Mohan had survived a car crash that killed everyone in the vehicle less than two years ago.

But while her external injuries had healed, the emotional trauma may have left her with a condition known as “Survivor's Guilt”.

And it probably led her to make the decision to take fate into her own hands.

On May 18, the 38 year old woman lay on her martial bed and placed a plastic bag over her head and breathed her last.

Forensic pathologist Dr Valery Alexandrov concluded that there were no signs of foul play involved in the death of Mohan, and that she died of acute oxygen deprivation due to obstruction of the upper airways by the plastic bags put over her face. 

“There was not the slighted evidence of an altercation. Her clothing was in perfect order. She was wearing a delicate silk blouse which could have been easily torn, but it was not. Even her fingernails were in perfect condition. Nothing at all to suggest foul play”, Alexandrov had told the Express.

Psychologist Dr Varma Deyalsingh said that Survivor's Guilt can develop when those suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) seek to connect with those who died.

“People ask why do they have Survivor's Guilt? It seems it's because it is preferable to blame ourselves for things outside of our control than to accept our situation for which we are completely helpless. Survivor's Guilt is also a way to express the connection with those who have died. It's a method of trying to keep them alive in your mind because of guilty feelings since you survived”.

She was happy

Mohan's husband, Davenand Rampersad told the Express that his wife was a happy woman, but she struggled emotionally after the car crash on November 25, 2015. 

Mohan was a passenger in a car which collided head-on into a ten wheeler truck that day. 

Taxi driver Anthony Marcano, 54, and passengers Felecia Ali, 41, and Sherwin Constantine, 54, died almost instantly.

Rampersad said his wife remembered nothing of how the crash happened, only that she woke up in a hospital bed with her two legs broken, ribs cracked, bruises and lacerations.

“The accident had a hold on her. She was not the same afterwards. She was depressed knowing that she too could have died. She was depressed because with her injuries she couldn't move for a while. She was very sad for those who died (in the crash), especially Mr Constantine since that was her friend from church. I believe she was sitting next to him in the taxi”, he said. “She said if she had died in the accident she would not have minded. But I used to tell her she shouldn't feel that way, that she should have been grateful that she was the only survivor”.

Deyalsingh said that Mohan may have been experiencing emotional conflict.

“If a close friend or family member died in that crash that is a factor that come into play. There are two conflicting emotions – feeling happy that you survived , and then guilty that the others did not. Once you have two conflicting emotions it is like a tug of war in your brain and that could lead to problems”, said Deyalsingh.

Acute stress

The psychologist said that such stress could lead to a disorder known as Acute Stress Disorder (ASD). “This is where the person would have nightmares and relive the event. Sometimes they are numb, sometimes they can't go near cars, or a certain area. After a month if the person is still having flashbacks then ASD is labelled Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)”, said Deyalsingh. “We find that people suffering from PTSD have a lot of intrusive thoughts where they relive the traumatic event over and over during the day. There may have been a pre-existing problem of depression, and when something else happens they feel overwhelmed”.

Rampersad said while his wife's outward appearance was the same following the fatal crash, something has changed on the inside.

Her smile which attracted him more than seven years before at a convention of Jehovah Witnesses at the Oval in Port of Spain had disappeared.

The couple was married for five years, and according to Rampersad's mother, Radica Rampersad, “he took his time to get married”.

Rampersad said after the crash, his wife was warded at hospital for three months, then stayed at her family's home at Aranguez.

He would often make the journey from Chrysosthom Trace in Mayaro to Aranguez to be at her side.

After a year and a half she moved back to their marital home.

Rampersad said that the crash left his wife with a fear of “big trucks”, but he talked her all the way through on their way back to their home.

But as time passed and he would find her crying, Rampersad knew his wife needed help.

“If I see her crying and tried to talk to her she would push me away, said 'to leave her alone',” he said. “I asked her if she wanted to get professional help and she said 'no'. I asked her sister to talk to her about it. But it didn't happen. But we were doing counselling in church”.

Deyalsingh advised that there are free psychological clinics at health centres, hospitals, private institutions that people can access across the country.

He said that there is also the Community Mental Health and Wellness Clinics at Port of Spain and Barataria where people can seek help following traumatic events.

Trinidad Express