Pulmonary edema has been given as the cause of death of Yogeeta Persaud, the one-time top Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) student, who collapsed and died in Peru last Sunday while on a medical outreach.
This was confirmed by father of the dead woman, Thakur Persaud, who spoke with this newspaper yesterday. The young woman’s cause of death was uncovered by an autopsy.
According to the Medline Plus website, pulmonary edema is an abnormal buildup of fluid in the lungs and can be caused by congestive heart failure, certain medicines, high altitude exposure, kidney failure, narrowed arteries that bring blood to the kidneys and lung damage caused by poisonous gas or severe infection.
Meanwhile, Persaud noted that although the preparation of his daughter’s body for the flight home has been completed, there is some paperwork that needs to be completed by the Peruvian authorities before her remains are allowed to leave. Persaud said he remains hopeful that this will be completed on Monday.
Yogeeta, 20, of Golden Fleece, Essequibo Coast and a former student of Anna Regina Multilateral, was adjudged the Caribbean’s most outstanding student in 2013 after securing grade ones in 18 subjects at CSEC.
At the time of her death, the young woman was on an outreach that was organised by her school, Stony Brook University in New York City.
This newspaper was told by her father that she had been in Peru for more than a week along with other students on the outreach and was expected to return home to Guyana in a matter of weeks.
He noted that she did not have any history of a serious illness and her randomly collapsing has left a lot of unanswered questions for the family.
