A 14-year-old student of a Berbice Secondary School is recovering from a head injury at the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH) after he was struck by a shot put during a school athletics event last Thursday afternoon.
Port Mourant resident Hemchand Narine, who attends the Lower Corentyne Secondary School, was transferred to the High Dependency Unit (HDU) of the GPH from the New Amsterdam Hospital after he was rushed there last Thursday afternoon following the incident. His aunt told this newspaper that her nephew received a serious injury to his head and the school should shoulder the blame for it.
Narine told Stabroek News that he was sitting with a group of students in the schoolyard on Thursday afternoon around 2.30 pm, when he was struck in his head by a shot put. According to the student, who seemed to be having memory lapses, the teacher who was in charge at the time placed him and a group of students to sit behind a demarcated line, where they were supposed to be clear of the heavy object. He said he suddenly heard the other students calling on him to, “move out of the way”, but by the time he could have reacted the object hit him flush to the right side of his temple, after which his head hit a wall.
According to his aunt, after the incident her nephew was rushed to the Port Mourant Hospital bleeding through his nostrils and in an unconscious state. He was subsequently transferred to the New Amsterdam Hospital before being referred to the GPH as the injury to his head was serious. She said he underwent an operation yesterday, stating that the impact of the object damaged parts of the teen’s brain.
His parents and other relatives have since taken up residence temporarily on hospital benches outside the HDU, since, according to his aunt, they were very concerned about the child’s injury. She said his parents wept uncontrollably when the young man sustained the injury.
Stabroek News understands that the incident has engaged the attention of the School’s Welfare Department of the Ministry of Education and an investigation has since been launched in this regard.
Meanwhile, the Stella Maris Primary School student who was injured following an altercation with another student at the school’s compound last Wednesday has recovered from injuries he sustained following the incident. When contacted for a comment yesterday, Chief School’s Wel-fare Officer of the Ministry of Education (MoE) Banmattie Ram told Stabroek News that investigations into the incident were completed and she was expected to review a report on same soon.
The ten-year-old male student was hit in the head during a fight with another student and was rushed to the GPH after he was picked up by teachers and other adults in the school compound. He was later transferred to a private hospital in the city.
And another student, 13-year-old Diamond Secondary School student Stefan Bobb who was stabbed in his chest at school last Thursday with a pair of scissors, allegedly by a classmate, has recovered from his injuries and is expected to be discharged from the GPH some time this week. The lad told Stabroek News from his hospital bed yesterday that he was feeling much better than when he was admitted to the medical institution. He said he was anxious to go back to school.
According to reports, Bobb had asked another classmate to remove from his seat and following an argument, the student reached for a scissors and stabbed the young man to his chest. The matter was reported to the police and it has also engaged the attention of the School’s Welfare Department of the MoE.
