Teenager Christopher Andy Seebaran wanted to become a firefighter.

And when he was not attending school, he worked to earn money for his training, relatives said yesterday.

But his life ended when he was knocked down by a car near his home last Friday.

Police said Seebaran, 17, was crossing the Golconda Main Road, on the outskirts of San Fernando, when he was struck by a black Toyota Corolla driven by a 31-year-old man around 11.45 a.m. The driver, of Victoria Village, San Fernando, stopped to assist Seebaran, police said.

He was taken to the San Fernando General Hospital by an Emergency Medical Services ambulance. Seebaran succumbed to his injuries around 7.05 p.m.

He lived with his father, Roopnarine "Paco" Seebaran, and three siblings at Church Street, Golconda.

His mother died ten years ago.

His uncle, Doodnath Seebaran, said, "He had no school yesterday so he went to work with a contractor putting down tiles at the community centre. He left work and was going home for lunch. He was crossing the road when the car hit him."

The teen was a Third Form pupil at the San Fernando Secondary School.

Seebaran said his nephew suffered injuries to the head, a broken arm and ribs.

"My wife called and told me my nephew was knocked down. I reached the hospital two minutes before the ambulance. When I saw him I get weak. I didn't expect it to be so bad. He had an opening in the skull, broken arm and his ribs were broken," he said.

Seebaran thanked doctors at the hospital.

"They worked really hard to save him. I want to thank them because they were always in contact with us," he said.

Seebaran described his nephew as a well-mannered, hard- working and ambitious youth.

"His pastor in church is a retired firefighter and he always talking to him about joining the service. Whenever he didn't have school he would go and work to support himself. His father is a former Caroni (1975) Ltd worker and now he doing construction work. So Andy always working hard to help himself," he said.

The teen's father was making funeral arrangements yesterday.

"He is making arrangements. But he is not in a good state of mind. He is crying a lot," relatives said.

The driver was being interviewed by police last evening.