‘If only I knew’ - Mother reflects on last moments with son killed by goalpost

Six-year old Javani

“It was 94 students on roll up to yesterday; it’s now 93.”

The statement by principal Kerrol Lyons of Chester Primary School in St Ann reflected the deep sense of loss being experienced by  the entire Chester community after the death of six-year-old grade-one student Javani Bailey.

“A little girl here, she was playing ‘Mama Lashie’ with Javani. She says she still feels like she’s playing with him,” Lyons said in summing up the mood at the school.

Javani died on Tuesday October 11 after a goalpost he and other children were playing with fell on his head. It was a cruel blow for the woman who lost her mother just five months ago. It was made worse by the fact Six-year old Javani that she had initially decided not to send Javani to school and, after leaving the house to go to Montego Bay in St James, turned back to get him and his nine-year-old sister ready for school.

“Mi say, ‘Papa (her pet name for Javani), yuh know mi nuh feel fi sen yuh go a school today’; an him say, ‘Mommy, since yuh nuh waa sen mi, nuh worry sen mi’,” she recalled.

The last words she heard from Javani, as she put him and his sister in a taxi, were “Mommy, later”.

Javani’s aunt, Merona Morgan, said she was at a friend’s shop when some children came and told her that Bajeo had died.

“So mi say, ‘How Bajeo fi dead an Bajeo up a yard?’ Because mi talk to him in the morning an him say him not going to school,” Morgan recalled.

Morgan, along with the principal and two friends, assisted by a female driver who lives in the community, rushed the child to the St Ann’s Bay Hospital.

Later, it was a friend who called Francis, while she was in Montego Bay, and told her that something was wrong. The message was that Javani fell and the goalpost hit him in his head. That got her extremely worried. But then her sister called with the news that she dreaded most.

Francis said she would remember mostly “the way how him loving to mi. If anything wrong with mi, him would say, ‘Mommy, nuh worry’. Him always kiss mi if mi a cry an’ say, ‘Mommy, nuh cry; nuh cry, Mommy, everything a go alright’.”

Javani died in his aunt’s arms on the way to hospital. When the vehicle reached Priory, she said she felt Javani take his last breath. He was pronounced dead minutes later at the hospital.

‘Why did Shara die?’

Shara Mohammed

Still dealing with the loss of his girlfriend Shara Mohammed, who died at her Moruga home two weeks after undergoing a Caesarean section at the San Fernando General Hospital (SFGH) to deliver their first son, Abrahim, Bickram Ramroop, on Monday October 3, said he welcomes the move by the Ministry of Health to audit the hospital’s maternity care services.

The death of the mother of nine has been linked to complications arising out of the surgery.

The weekend deaths of another woman, Nyca Foster, and her baby at the SFGH, prompted action by Health Minister Dr Fuad Khan who on Sunday announced that a special audit team had been appointed to investigate the mortalities at the institution.

Ramroop, 28, said, “While I am happy, I want to know why they waited untill now to do that. Something like that should have been in place a long time ago and if that was so Shara might have been alive today.”

On last Monday, Mohammed, 33, died at her Saunders Trace, Moruga home. On September 11 she gave birth to her ninth child. It was the first time she ever had surgery to deliver a baby. A post mortem revealed that Mohammed’s death was due to pelvic thrombosis.

Ramroop, a fisherman of Gran Chemin, Moruga said he is yet to be contacted by officials of the South West Regional Health Authority (SWRHA).

Ramroop continued, “I really want to get to know what it is caused the death of my baby’s mother. I will cooperate with them and tell them all that she went through after she had the surgery.”

According to Ramroop, Mohammed’s health deteriorated following her discharge from the hospital two days after giving birth.

“She grew weaker and weaker every day and we were told that she will feel better in three weeks time,” Ramroop continued.

“This is modern times and women must not die in childbirth. I hope to be updated on this matter.”

Speaking on Sunday October 2 at the Port-of-Spain General Hospital, Dr Khan said that the audit team will comprise “a medical person, a surgical person and an obstetrician and gynaecologist and a senior midwife. Meanwhile Ramroop told Newsday that his three-week-old son Abrahim was doing well.

He said, “He is very strong and taking his bottles.”

Ramroop said at the end of the month, baby Abrahim will be separated from his eight brothers and sisters as he will be assuming full custody of his son.

He said, “I will take him at the end of the month to live with me. My mother (Shanti Jaikaran) is looking forward to taking care of her grandson. She is happy with the arrangement.”

Ramroop said he was forced to make the decision to separate his son from his siblings because of the distance he lives from him and the hours he works.

“I love my baby and want to be close to him. I live a far distance from them and it is kind of hard to get to see him everyday. He will be happy.”

Grandmother Mazmoon Mohammed will continue to care for the eight other children. Her late daughter and children shared an apartment downstairs her home.

A relative said, “We will look after the children as we always did. We made a pledge upon her death to do so and that is what my sister would have wanted. We will keep them together.”

Bahamas murder count reaches triple digits .

The murder count in The Bahamas reached triple digits during the weekend of September 16-18, as five violent deaths recorded in the space of 48 hours pushed the count to a staggering 100 for the year so far.

This is the highest number of murders ever recorded in a single year since records have been kept in The Bahamas.

Four murders took place between Friday night and Saturday afternoon in separate incidents.

Another man who was shot Thursday died in hospital on Saturday night, police confirmed.

This time last year the murder count stood at 68, according to The Nassau Guardian’s records. This means that the murder count has increased by 47 percent over this time last year.

Since earlier this year, some analysts predicted that there would be more than 100 murders in 2011. And with just over three months remaining in the year, that prediction will likely be realized. 

While pointing out that it is unfortunate that The Bahamas has recorded a murder count of 100, Minister of National Security Tommy Turnquest said on Sunday that, were it not for certain crime-fighting initiatives the Ingraham administration put in place the situation could have been a lot worse.

During an interview, Turnquest was  asked whether the government was contemplating seeking help from foreign law enforcement agencies. 

“We haven’t at this stage,” he said. “We have a very well trained police force. The problem isn’t the police, in my view. We need to keep the criminals behind bars. That’s the real issue.” 

He pointed to initiatives put in place by the Ingraham administration geared at speeding up the administration of justice and addressing the crime problem.

Turnquest said the electronic monitoring program had a positive impact on crime, as did the government’s decision to provide the police with additional resources, including manpower. But the opposition has accused the Ingraham administration of failing dismally on crime.

At a press conference on Thursday September 15, Progressive Liberal Party leader Perry Christie restated his position that the current administration has not done enough to address the issue of violent crime, especially murder, calling the Ingraham administration’s position on the issue “paralyzed” and “indifferent.” 

“Bahamians understand that crime is a national issue, even if some of their government officials seem to be slow to understand what is happening,” Christie said.

Africanised bees kill Eccles man

Pandemonium hit the village of Eccles, East Bank Demerara (EBD) in the afternoon on Monday September 19 after a swarm of Africanised (killer) Bees launched an attack on residents in the area, resulting in the death of one.

Sheikh Imran Hassan, 48, succumbed at the Balwant Singh Hospital, East Street, Georgetown, late afternoon. He had been stung numerous times about his body while at his residence.

At the hospital, the Hassan family was still trying to come to grips with what transpired, while other residents who were stung needed medical attention.

Arshaad Hassan, the man’s eldest son, said that he has been living at Lot 238 Anaida Avenue, Eccles, for his entire life and never saw any of the Africanised Bees around his home prior to this incident.

He explained that his father, a mechanic by occupation, and other family members were attacked by the bees around 13:30 hrs while he was at work.

Six other residents were stung moments after the bees began to attack and they received assistance and treatment from other persons in the neighbourhood.

One of Hassan’s relative stated that the hive of bees was situated in their neighbour’s house.

“The nest is in our neighbour ceiling; Tony Amres house, the GEB security people. The house lock up and they gone. We sought assistance when this thing was happening from; we sought the NDC, police station, agriculture, fire station, all over and no one helped”, said the relative.

Fizal Shawl, the victim’s brother-inlaw, who was at the scene at the time of the incident stated that Hassan and another brother were repairing a car on his (Shawl’s) bridge when a swarm of bees attacked the two.

The victim’s brother managed to jump in a drum of water while the deceased put a bucket on his head but since the bees were too numerous he fell and was covered in black (bees). The victim’s sons, his brother and other close relatives made numerous efforts to save his life but all were futile.

According to his brother, from the time the bees attacked Hassan, contacts were made to many government places for help to eradicate the bees but to no avail.

Calls were also made to West Ruimveldt Fire Station but the response was “We gotta get permission”.

The NDC responded to the calls with “How much you’ll pay?”

While the deceased was being attacked, frustrated relatives also made contact with the Ministry of Agriculture but that department was only able to give the family different phone numbers to contact the eradicator.

At the home of Hassan at 17:00hrs, there was chaos because the bees were still living in the ceiling of a house next door, at 239 Anaida Avenue.

At the time of the incident a woman  was said to be living in the house but immediately fled after she realized that the bees were inside the house.

According to Joan Hassan, the victim’s sister-in-law, she was stung in the head while trying to assist, while other neighbours locked their doors and were peeping through their windows to see the outcome since there wasn’t much anyone could do.

The victim’s sister-in-law explained that after her brother-in-law passed away, a bee catcher came to the scene.

“When he came and was directed to the house the bee catcher said there isn’t anything he can do now and demanded taxi fare from our family.”  Hassan leaves to mourn his three sons and wife, Sabetri.

According to a report the Guyana Livestock Development Authority (GLDA) received a report from a resident of Lot 199 Anira Avenue, Eccles, at approximately 14:00 hrs. That report stated that a resident of Eccles was being attacked by a swarm of bees.

The GLDA states that it immediately contacted Mr. Carl Persaud, a private bee keeper/exterminator who responded to the scene at 14:30 hrs to investigate the report and take necessary action.

Singh arrived on the scene and found that the bees were in an occupied building. He then exterminated the bee colony and rescued two dogs.

“It is also believed that there are other colonies of bees within the area based upon the number of bees that were exterminated. The GLDA is advising that the bees are hostile and should be reported immediately to GLDA at 220-6557”, the release went on to say.

Meanwhile, the GLDA said that it regretted the loss of life and sympathised with the other persons who were stung in the process.

7 year old Sarah’s last dance

Sarah Ohid

Little Sarah Ohid seemed energetic and exuberant as she sang her favourite song and danced at her home last week, while already afflicted with the  dengue virus that would kill her days later.

Mourners at her funeral service yesterday at the family home at Crissy Street, Block Five, Palmiste, San Fernando, were shown a 30-second video of the girl, captured by relative Mark Ohid.

Those 30 seconds were the only time that tears were replaced by chuckles of laughter at the funeral service.

During his remarks, Ohid paid special tribute to Sarah, playing her favourite song “Who says” by Selena Gomez, with the words of the chorus, “I’m no beauty queen, I’m just beautiful me”.

Sarah, who was born on Christmas Day, 2003, died early morning on Saturday September 17 after falling ill last Monday with fever, diarrhoea and vomiting.

The Standard Two pupil of the San Fernando TML Primary School stayed home from school that day and her parents sought medical attention at a private doctor, who had ruled out dengue haemorrhagic fever.

She returned to school on Tuesday September 13 and Wednesday September 14, but by Thursday her condition deteriorated.

her mother, Sherry Ann, took her for treatment at a nursing home, and when a test confirmed she had dengue, she was transferred to the San Fernando General Hospital.

She arrived at the San Fernando General Hospital in shock, and doctors said they fought to save her life. However, she passed away after six hours.

Her father, Kelly, a project engineer, said that before the illness she was a healthy child.

Also attending the service were members of the Cub Scouts from her school, of which she was a member. They placed pink and white roses in her casket and her cub scout leader placed an honorary scarf on her body.

Two pictures of Sarah were placed near her casket, with brightly coloured flowers and wreaths next to them.

A neighbour, Keith Ramdass, said Sarah had told him she wanted to be a housewife, and was passionate about cooking. “She was very polished,” Ramdass said. “She had the quality to be a statesman. She was very graceful. She was charismatic. Even if you didn’t know her, you would have found it in your heart to love her”.

Pastor Clyde Ramlochan, in delivering the sermon, told mourners that although she was a child, she had impacted on the lives of many persons, not just her parents.

Ramlochan said: “Remember parents, children are an inheritance from the Lord. Sarah was an inheritance and a reward from God. Those who see them as a distraction and a nuisance should see them as the future”. He appealed to parents to “introduce our children to God, to Jesus. Let us bring them to where they can find God so that there will be a change in Trinidad and Tobago”.

Sarah was buried at the Cap-de-Ville cemetery, near Point Fortin.

Curfew death

A curfew party ended tragically early morning on Monday September 19, when Mahindra Maharaj fell to his death from the balcony of a luxury multi-million dollar condominium in Moka, Maraval.

Maharaj, 30, was liming with friends at the upscale, gated community known as The Hamlet, at St Andrew’s Wind, St Andrew’s Golf Course Road, Moka.

He had a swim in the plunge pool of the condominium, at about 1.30 am, and went to sit on the ledge of the balcony when he got out of the water. He slipped on the tiles and fell over the balcony, plummeting more than 150 feet to the ground.

Maharaj, the son of Bindra Maharaj who owns BK Hardware in Arima, was taken to the Port-of- Spain General Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival. Maharaj was also the nephew of the former president of the Supermarkets Association, Balliram Maharaj.

An autopsy conducted at the hospital mortuary yesterday revealed Maharaj bled to death when his vena cava vein, which carries de-oxygenated  blood from the lower half of the body into the right atrium of the heart, ruptured when his body hit the ground.

Bindra said his son had told him  on Sunday that he was going to a meeting with officials from the YUMA Carnival band.

“I did not know where he went. I do not know about his whereabouts generally. I was shocked when I heard the news,” Bindra said of his son, the first of his three children.

“All I was told was that he was at the apartment in Moka in a swimming pool and that he slipped on tiles and fell over several feet from off a balcony. I do not know how often he frequented there, or what. All he said he was going to a meeting about the Carnival band YUMA. I do not really know much about that either.”

Bindra said his son lived with him at their own palatial home at Calvary Hill, Arima. The Maharaj family is well known in the eastern borough.

“I really do not know what he was doing at Moka at that hour. He was an adult so I never really knew about his whereabouts and can’t say much but his death has hit me very hard,” said Bindra.

Due to the state of emergency and the 11 pm to 4 am curfew that is in effect in several communities in Trinidad, including Maraval and Arima, Maharaj would have had to remain overnight Sunday at the condominium with his friends.

The owner of the condominium was not able to be contacted for comment about the incident.

The average cost of a unit at The Hamlet is $6.5 million.

Maharaj’s death is being investigated by Cpl John of the Maraval Police Station .

Mr Sonan Sookdeo: 1949 - 2011

Jai Shree Krishna

We are saddened to inform you of the passing away of Mr Sonan Sookdeo.
Mr Sonan died on Thursday September 15 @ Mississauga Trillium Hospital.
Mr Sonan was 62 yrs old.

He was the Husband of Debra Sookdeo & father of Stephane Sookdeo of Mississauga.
Mr Sonan & his family were active & integral members of the Satya Jyoti Cultural
Sabha

Om Jai Shree Krishna