“I worked so hard to save that money so I could take my family to the seaside for the first time. We were all so excited, especially the children. We had no idea what kind of nightmare awaited us. We almost all lost our lives. My son was only seconds away from death and fought for his life for days. I managed to save him. I tried to save Jovana too, but I couldn’t pull her out from under the bus.”
These are the words of Marjan Đorđević (37) from Niš, the father of 10-year-old Danilo, who was seriously injured in a traffic accident in Montenegro on July 12. A 21-year-old woman was killed in the crash, while another 17 passengers were injured.
Marjan, who earned the money for his family’s first seaside vacation through hard work cutting and selling firewood, traveled to the Stoliv camp organized by the “Ivo Lola Ribar” Scout Troop at the beginning of July with his wife, their daughters aged 15 and 13, and his son. One of his daughters also brought along a friend.
“We enjoyed every moment because it was our first trip to the sea. The journey there was wonderful, and we wanted to see everything, so we also decided to visit the Ostrog Monastery. That was an incredible experience too. Everything was fine until we started the trip back. We all noticed that the driver was behaving recklessly. He was texting on his mobile phone, driving fast and carelessly. Passengers kept warning him, begging him to slow down, some even whistled at him, but he ignored all the warnings. My wife, who was sitting right next to him in the front passenger seat, suddenly said, ‘Hey, man…’ That was the last thing I heard before the horrific impact, and then chaos followed,” Marjan recalled the events that nearly claimed the lives of his entire family.
According to him, when the minibus slammed into the rock face and overturned, his son, who had been sleeping on his lap, was thrown out.
“Danilo was literally hanging underneath the bus. I realized it was only a matter of seconds before the vehicle would fall on him. I smashed the windshield with my head and managed to move him before the bus collapsed. If I had been just a few seconds later, his head would have been crushed. Sadly, he fell onto Jovana, and that’s how she lost her life. As soon as I moved my son, I tried together with other passengers to lift the vehicle and save her, but we couldn’t,” said the man from Niš, who himself suffered serious injuries in the crash.
He added that the driver’s behavior after the accident was also unusual.
“From what I heard, the first thing he did was call his wife to tell her he had been in an accident. I’m not even sure he was the one who called the ambulance and the police. I don’t know who alerted them, but they arrived quickly and transported all of us to the hospital in Risan. I was diagnosed with head and arm injuries and three broken ribs. My wife broke her right arm, one of my daughters injured her knee, while the other fortunately escaped without injuries. I have to say that the hospital staff were incredibly caring. They not only provided excellent medical treatment but also bought and brought us everything we needed. They were there for us the entire time and treated us with great compassion. We didn’t even know how seriously our son had been injured because they tried to shield us from that terrible news while we were recovering,” Marjan said.
He arrived in Niš on July 18 aboard a Serbian Government aircraft accompanied by medical staff from the University Clinical Center (UKC) Niš.
“We were immediately admitted to our Clinical Center for further treatment, and I remained hospitalized until July 21. My son and wife arrived in Niš only yesterday, after Danilo had recovered enough to be transported. He suffered severe lung and head injuries, and his entire body was badly bruised. He was in critical condition for days. I went straight to the hospital as soon as they arrived. I wasn’t able to see my son, but I handed some belongings to my wife. I hope he makes a full recovery. My daughters are deeply traumatized by everything they went through and by the fear they felt for their brother, to whom they are very attached,” Đorđević said, adding that he was extremely grateful to the Serbian state for arranging the air transport and to the medical staff from UKC Niš who accompanied them during the flight.
Marjan’s father-in-law, Zoran, who has been by his side throughout the ordeal, said those days were also the hardest of his life.
“My daughter didn’t tell me about the accident until the following day because I have heart problems and she was afraid I wouldn’t be able to handle the shock. I wasn’t alive during those few days while Danilo was fighting for his life. My granddaughters were the first to return to Niš, and it meant so much to me to see that they were safe. I could hardly wait to hug them. I hope Danilo will recover as well and that all of this will soon be behind us,” the man from Niš said.
The injured 10-year-old, who spent several days on a ventilator in Montenegro, was transferred to Niš after his condition stabilized and is continuing treatment at the Pediatric Clinic of the University Clinical Center in the city.
The minibus driver, Lj.M. (68), who caused the serious traffic accident, was arrested on suspicion of committing a serious offense against public traffic safety. Preliminary findings indicate that driver fatigue was the cause of the crash.
The death of Jovana Stanković deeply saddened her hometown of Vrtište, where she is remembered as a wonderful young woman. In her honor, July 15 was declared a Day of Mourning in Niš.
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Source: Nova.rs; Foto: Printscreen Facebook / VATROGASNA JEDINICA KOTOR