A Mahaicony miner died early yesterday morning at the Georgetown Public Hospital, two weeks after he was doused with gasoline and turned into a human torch during a confrontation at Chinee Landing, Cuyuni in Region Seven.
Police have since said they are looking for a suspect, but, according to relatives before he died, 30-year-old Elroy Sealey called `Bread’ of Lot 45 Yorkshire Hall said the attack was carried out by two men.
A police press release said that on May 21, Sealey was confronted by a man at Chinee Landing, Cuyuni, during which he was doused with gasoline and set on fire. He was admitted to the GPH where he succumbed on Sunday.
Relatives, however, said that based on what they had been told, he died early yesterday morning.
When Stabroek News arrived at his home, relatives and friends had gathered and expressed shock. Some were seen comforting his mother Sheila Sealey.
Sheila recalled that two Tuesdays ago around 11 am she received a telephone call informing her that he “get burn up” and was at Bartica Hospital. She said the caller did not indicate to her under what circumstances he was burnt.
The woman said she inquired if she had to travel to Bartica and the person on the other end advised her not to since efforts were being made to transport him to Georgetown. She said that at that time she was told they were unable to put him in a boat because it was raining.
Sheila said that around 3 pm that day she decided to travel to the Georgetown Hospital to see if he had arrived. As she was nearing the hospital, she said, she heard the siren of an ambulance. She said she started to run and when she arrived she realised it was him. She said when the door was opened, he son began calling for her. She said when she responded to his call he said “mommy they bun me”. The woman said that her son called the name of the person who threw the gasoline on him. According to her, he also said a second man then threw a lit match at him.
Sheila said her son related to her that after he became engulfed in flames, he ran and ended up rolling on the ground to put the flames out. “He ain’t know nothing mo. He ain’t know nothing mo till he reach Georgetown,” she added.
She said when she saw him all he was wearing was underpants and he was badly burnt. She said the burns were so bad; his hands were left in an upward position. “Like he burn right through to me because the burn catch he liver, stop the kidney from functioning and that was it,” she said.
She said he was taken into the emergency room but she was told she could not go with him. The woman said other relatives later came and they went into the emergency room to see him.
According to her, the doctor later briefed them on his chances which were 50/50 and what treatment would be administered. She said an operation was done to fix his hands.
Later, she said, he was admitted to the High Dependency Unit (HDU), since the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) where he should have been admitted was full.
She said though she visited her son every day until he died, he never gave any details as to why he was burnt. She said all he kept talking about was the fire. “He was doing well because he only talking about the fire…even in he sleep he talking about the fire,” she added. While nothing that he was a lot of pain since he groaned to the point where his eyes watered, she said she suspected that he would have died. He stopped eating last Thursday saying that he didn’t want the soup she was taking. All he wanted, she said, was cranberry juice and the water.
The woman recalled that her sister, whose daughter works at the hospital called sometime between 4 am and 5 am and while she did not immediately say that he had died, she knew that was the reason she was calling at that hour.
Sheila said her son left for the interior in February to work on a dredge and when she last spoke with him in April he said he was in the Puruni area. Asked if she had heard anything from the police, the woman said officers from Eve Leary had visited the hospital every day to get a statement. They eventually got one last week, she said.
She said the police indicated to her that they are looking for two persons.
While she said she would leave the perpetrators in the hands of “the Father”, Sheila called on the police to actively pursue the matter to ensure that she gets justice “because he did suffer a lot”. She said she is yet to hear from the people he was working with.
A post-mortem examination is expected to be conducted tomorrow.
Sealey also leaves to mourn his 10-year-old daughter, three older siblings and his father Julius Sealey.
