A family outing to the St Cuthbert’s Mission along the Mahaica River on Thursday ended tragically when 13-year-old Anand ‘Joey’ Ramdeo of Good Hope, East Coast Demerara drowned after the canoe he was paddling in capsized in the river.
Ramdeo along with his sister Annie Ramdeo, niece Anjulie Henry, cousin-in-law Ramona Harikissoon and other relatives were on the trip to the St Cuthbert’s Mission, when he met his demise while trying to save his niece from drowning.
He was a second form student of Queen’s College and has been described as an intelligent young man who always was engrossed in his studies and cared for everyone. A post-mortem examination conducted yesterday indicated that the lad died because his lung was submerged with water.
According to Harikissoon, they went to the area for a wedding and decided to go to the river. Upon arriving there, she indicated to Ramdeo’s sister that she was going to urinate and took along him and Henry. After she finished she saw ‘Joey’ in the boat and they decided to paddle their way back to the spot where the others were cooking since, she noted, that it was not very far away.
“We said ok lets go back in the boat since it was not far.
We were going okay and then all of a sudden the boat started to turn and then like this big wave come and full the boat and it start to full and I started to scream,” a still traumatized Harikissoon recalled.
They were then assisted by other relatives but no one was able to save Joey.
Harikissoon added that the canoe was old and they had no permission to ride in it since they did not know the owner, but they, however, went along, since the Joey was already in it. She related that if she had not screamed for help, they all would have been dead since they were almost drowning.
Ramdeo’s sister Annie related that they had no idea the trio would end up min the canoe, since a mature person was with them and they had earlier been told that they would go into the river after they had finished cooking.
“An 18-year-old was with them. I just didn’t expect them to do something like that and we told them that when we finished cooking we will all go in the water,” the grieving woman related.
She added that while the boat was in the area, the trio said they were going to take a walk and comeback and not ride in the boat.
Ramdeo leaves to mourn his mother, one brother and a sister and will be buried today at the Good Hope Cemetery.
