Boy, 5, loses four fingers after lighting squib

Jan 16, 2020 News

By Shikema Dey

A young lad’s curious nature ended with him losing four fingers on his left hand with the possibility of losing the entire hand, after he unknowing to his parents, lit a squib in their home.

5-year-old Darrion Jaigobin

The boy, 5-year-old Darrion Jaigobin, a grade one student at Enterprise Primary School is currently a patient at the Georgetown Public Hospital.
His mother, Shirley George explained that the incident occurred last Friday. According to her, she was at their lot 271 7th Street, Non Pareil, East Coast Demerara home with Darrion and his sister at the time.
She stated that she had just finished making breakfast for the two children and ventured downstairs to tend to her plants while they stayed upstairs watching cartoons.
“I left them upstairs watching some cartoons and went downstairs to go and transplant some flowers… and I’m downstairs and like about five minutes later, I heard a big boom, and I’m thinking that it was coming from the neighbour place, until he run outside holding he hand and screaming and when I checked, he didn’t have his four fingers, only the small one left and the rest blow off.”
When asked where her son got the explosive from, George stated that he told her that he found it in their yard.
“He said he picked it up in the yard when he was playing and keep it and he wait until I was not there and he light it, because I don’t let him play with squib or nothing like that.”
The lad’s mother relayed that for the New Year celebrations, her next door neighbours were lighting the explosives and one must have came over into the yard and the child found it while playing.
According to her, the doctors stated that due to the large amount of dead flesh on the child’s hand, they may have to amputate.
“He is so small and they said that he might lose his hand because of the dead flesh on it and they have him under observation for now, but only time can tell and we are hoping for the best.”