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Fireworks explosion… Soldiers recovering but emotional scars remain over loss of colleague
Dead Seon Rose
“We are going to recover but not fully,” were the words of some of the seven other soldiers who were injured in the February 22 fireworks explosion that left one of their comrades dead.
Thirty-two-year Corporal Seon Rose died less than 24hrs after sustaining extensive injuries from the blast.
Also injured were Cpl. Trevor Joseph, 35; Cpl Terrence Neil, 26; Cpl. Andrew Cornette, 34; Staff Sgt. Otto Row, 35; Cpl. Victor Lowe, 25; Cpl Delroy Baird, 28; along with Cpl. Diah Gordon, 29.
They have all been discharged from hospital.
In an interview, Cpl Terrence Neil stated that he no longer suffers physical pain but the memories of the event will forever haunt him.
“It is the worst thing that has ever happened to me,” he told Kaieteur News.
“It is something no one should have to endure. It leaves behind scars, and lifelong ones, I must say.”
Not withholding his emotions, Cpl. Neil stated that due to the amount of times they have spent together, he and his colleagues have bonded even more, and the passing of Cpl Rose will forever be a ‘big deal’.
When contacted, Cpl Baird stated that although he was not badly injured, he is however being haunted with the memories of the event.
“All I can say is that I will never get over what happened. We all trained together and we were all scheduled to go home to our families the following weekend. No one imagined such a thing would have ever happened to us.”
The soldiers all stated that not only will scars be on their bodies but the memories of the event are also with them.
After they were discharged from the city hospital, the ranks were given substantial time off to be with their families.
After the incident, the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) partnered with the University of Guyana (UG) to provide the ranks with psychological care.
The explosion occurred at the Coast Guard Base wharf in Ruimveldt, while a twenty-one member team was offloading fireworks from a pontoon onto a nearby truck.
The pyrotechnics were to be used for the 50th Republic Anniversary fireworks display that evening.
But while the ranks were unloading the fireworks, spontaneous combustion occurred, resulting in the massive explosion.
The ranks were forced to jump into the Demerara River, as the explosion sent debris flying several metres into the air.
The soldiers were said to have all been trained to handle the explosives.
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