An elderly man, who was found naked and barely alive on a dam aback of Mocha Arcadia, East Bank Demerara is currently a patient at the Georgetown Public Hospital.
Albert Van Vieldt of Supply, East Bank Demerara, said to be in his seventies, was first taken to the Diamond Diagnostic Centre, but then transferred to the Georgetown hospital where he was admitted.
Van Vieldt was found near the Lamaha Conservancy at the back of the East Bank village by some workers.
Stabroek News understands that the man left his home since June 10 and no one had heard from his since. According to reports, the man may be suffering from Alzheimer’s disease and would from time to time leave his home but would return within a day or two. He has never been missing for such a long time.
Van Vieldt and wife are said to be remigrants from England and this newspaper was told that he would insist on leaving the home regularly.
According to Alvin Argyle, one of the persons who found the man, it appeared as if the man had been there for days. When he was found, Argyle said, he was groaning; ants and other insects were attacking him and his feet were in water.
Argyle said it was a dog that led them to the man. He said the dog was chasing a wild animal and some of the workers followed him and came upon the man. The only thing Van Vieldt with him, when he was found, was one side of a pair of long boots.
It took quite a while for the workers to journey to the police outpost in Mocha and report the man being found. The police also found it difficult to journey to the area and remove the man.
“He coulda been there like three days,” Argyle said.
Meanwhile, another worker, Sharon Berry, who lives in Barnwell North, the village behind Mocha, said she had noticed a man fitting the description of Van Vieldt passing her home and going down into the back dam about two weeks ago. She said the man, who was wearing a pair of long boots and had a bag and an umbrella in his possession, did not appear to be from the area and she wondered where he was going.
She wondered yesterday what could have happened to his clothes and his belongings.
The workers found a pair of pants and shirt to dress Van Vieldt before he was taken to the hospital.
