Drowning victim was epileptic

The handyman who was found dead in a canal in Plaisance, East Coast Demerara (ECD) on Saturday morning may have fallen in and drowned during an epileptic fit, his family says.

The body of 39-year-old Bashidae Rambissoon, of 207 Montrose ECD was fished out of a canal along Graham Street, Plaisance, ECD around 7:00 hrs on Saturday morning.

Rambissoon’s 19-year-old daughter, Samantha Rambissoon, yesterday told this newspaper that she did not see her father when she woke up around 6:00 on the day of the incident. It was customary, she continued, for him to leave home very early to look for work. Samantha said that her father was a handyman and would do odd jobs for people in the community. Later in the morning, around 7:30 hrs Rambissoon said her brother told her he had received a call from a relative saying that their father had drowned.

Bashidae Ramkissoon with his daughter Samantha
Bashidae Ramkissoon with his daughter Samantha

The young woman said she got dressed immediately and, along with other relatives, rushed to the place where her father is said to have drowned. By the time she arrived on the scene, operatives of the Lyken’s Funeral Parlour had already fished the man’s body from the canal.

Rambissoon’s family do not suspect foul play, but instead believe that he suffered an epileptic fit while cutting leaves for a religious function. His daughter said that he has been suffering from epilepsy for some time, adding that his drinking habit did not help his situation.  He was not drunk, however, when he drowned, the young woman said.

“Like he attempt fuh go in and he get an attack and he drowned there,” Samantha explained. Rambissoon leaves his wife and four children to mourn his passing.