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Child who swallowed thumbtack died from suffocation -PME
Dead: Mekhi Rodrigues (Child who swallowed thumbtack died from suffocation -PME)
Kaieteur News- Six-year-old Mekhi Rodrigues, the child who swallowed a thumbtack at a Crane school on Friday, died from suffocation caused by the tack lodged in his throat, the Guyana Police Force (GPF) revealed on Saturday.
The police said that the Post Mortem Examination was performed by Government Pathologist Dr. Nehaul Singh at the Ezekiel Funeral home.
Dr. Singh determined that suffocation as the cause of the child’s death.
Investigations revealed that on October 29, 2024, Rodrigues was playing with chalk at his private school when he complained to a teacher about difficulty breathing. He was subsequently rushed to the nearby West Demerara Regional Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The child’s mother, Rebehak Rodrigues, was informed, and a report was filed.
On Friday, Kaieteur News spoke with the child’s father and the attorney representing the school.
Attorney Yuborn Allicock told this publication that the child had gone to the washroom and accidentally swallowed a thumbtack. He then rushed to his class teacher, indicating he was having trouble breathing. Allicock described the child’s condition, saying he began to vomit and act frantically, leading to his transport to the hospital. “All of this was done in under four minutes,” he said.
However, the child’s father, Orin Rodrigues, provided a contrasting account. After reviewing CCTV footage from the classroom, he claimed the teacher paid little attention to his son. He noted that Mekhi repeatedly approached the teacher, expressing his difficulty breathing, but she dismissed him until he began to show signs of distress. The Head Mistress was informed before he was taken to the hospital. “By the time he got there, my son was already dead,” the father lamented.
Rodrigues expressed his frustration over the teacher’s inaction, stating, “From 11:00 to 11:43, the teacher paid no mind to my son. He was up and walking around, doing whatever he wanted.” He recounted that upon arrival at the hospital, the doctor informed him that Mekhi arrived with no heartbeat and efforts to revive him were unsuccessful, leading to the devastating conclusion that he was pronounced dead.
(Child who swallowed thumbtack died from suffocation -PME)
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