Fifteen-year-old Joel Adams who lost his life after reportedly attempting a backflip at a pool at the National Aquatic Centre in Liliendaal, Greater Georgetown, on July 9, came from humble beginnings.
Tamica Garnett, the now deceased boy’s cousin, related that he had life a bit more difficult than most children, coming from a broken home and then losing his mother in the process. But despite these challenges, her mother Jo’anna Adams-Daly, provided a home for him with endless love and care, however things became a bit tough and her mother had no choice but to place him into foster care. “Even though he was in state care my mom would visit him several times each year. She always went for his birthday and Christmas and took things for him at the start of the school year.”
Jo’anna Adams-Daly, the boy’s aunt, shared with the Sunday Stabroek that Joel’s father has been bedridden even before the incident occurred. Joel ended up in state care after she faced some difficulties with other persons who claimed that she was ill-treating the young man. “He went into foster care in 2018.” Notwithstanding this turn of events, she would visit him regularly and promised to take him out of foster care once he was older and reunite him with his younger sister.
Garnett disclosed that investigations into his death have since concluded. “Joel was buried on Thursday. From what I’ve been told the investigation ended with his death being ruled accidental. We’ve only been told the same story the media had, which is that he broke his neck while trying to play in the pool. Yes, I’ve seen the rumours swarming around on social media, but I don’t do autopsies so I can’t rule on a cause of death and I wasn’t there so I certainly can’t say anything about the veracity of the rumours.”
Joel Adams was enrolled in a swimming programme called, Teach Them Young Swimming, hosted by the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport and the National Sports Commission.
An eyewitness told the Stabroek News that there were several instructors present at the 14.00 to 15.00 hours training session and that the session catered mostly for persons between the ages of 11-18. The class comprised approximately 60 children. An instructor had blown a whistle to indicate the end of the training session and that everyone should come out of the water. Then she saw Adams run back to the warmup pool and do the ‘back flick’ and go under the water.
Investigations revealed that Adams left the care centre with a group of children at about 13:30 hours and attended the Aquatic Centre for a swim programme.
Khemwatti Dasrat, the caretaker, related that at about 14.55 hours, she heard the whistle blow at the Aquatic Centre, and the children started to exit the pool.
One of the swim coaches related that she saw when Adams back-flipped into the pool, and the lifeguard jumped in to rescue him. He was taken out of the pool and attended to by a nurse there on stand-by. An ambulance was summoned, and he was rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
