By Mia Anthony
A family is now mourning the loss of their son after he suffocated on a thumbtack at his school on October 29, 2024.
The deceased, five-year-old Mekhi Rodrigues, was a student of Little Angels Primary School. Speaking with the Sunday Stabroek, Mekhi’s grandfather, Grafton Rampaul, recounted that he, accompanied by two detectives and his father-in-law, went to the school after the incident, where they reviewed over two hours of footage depicting his grandchild’s final moments.
“He was sitting at the back of the class near the teacher’s desk. The teacher was at the front of the class by the blackboard. On the desk, there were things,” Rampaul explained. He admitted that, based on the video footage, it was clear his grandchild was unsettled as the teacher taught the class. He also noted that his grandchild appeared to be moving around a lot. “She did not stop to tell him not to put things in his mouth,” he said, adding that the video showed the child putting objects in his mouth.
“He put things in his mouth over three or four times before he got up and went to the teacher to complain, and instead of the teacher taking action, the video showed that she indicated for him to return to his seat.” He said that when the pain seemed to intensify, his grandchild got up from his chair and went to the restroom. “When he came out of the washroom, he had a bottle of water in his hands. He went back to the teacher and jumped up—that’s when she realized that something was wrong,” he continued. He explained that this was the last movement Mekhi would make before he collapsed. “The video showed that he collapsed and died right there; there was no movement in his hand.”
He noted, however, that before the child fell, the teacher cried out for help. Only one teacher came to her aid, and by the time another teacher arrived, Mekhi had already fallen to the ground.
After Mekhi fell, the teacher picked him up and took him to the car. “But you could see that he had already died,” Rampaul noted. He also observed that, although the school is located just five to six minutes away from West Demerara Regional Hospital, the car did not leave the school compound for over five minutes.
Rebekah Rodrigues, the mother of the child, told the Sunday Stabroek that when she received the phone call that something was wrong with her son and that they were heading to the hospital, she immediately contacted his father, Orin Rodrigues, as he was closer. She works in the city. By the time she arrived at the hospital, her son had already passed away. She shared similar sentiments, feeling her child had been neglected in his time of need.
Rampaul questioned the management and the teacher’s ability to care for children. He added that when the family requested a copy of the two-hour clip, the school refused to provide it, citing concerns about the video being circulated on social media.
A representative for Little Angels Academy spoke to the Sunday Stabroek and reiterated that the recording showed the teacher sprang into action immediately upon noticing that Rodrigues was choking. They noted that the time it took for the teacher to get to the car and leave the school for the hospital was just four minutes. They also noted that thumbtacks are Ministry of Education-approved stationery. Given the sensitivity of the topic and out of respect for the grieving family, they declined to comment further.
The post-mortem results for Rodrigues showed that he died from suffocation due to a metal tack (thumbtack) lodged in his throat. This was confirmed by Government Pathologist Dr. Nehaul Singh, who performed a post-mortem examination with dissection on Friday, November 1, 2024, at Ezekiel Funeral Home. At the conclusion of the examination, Dr. Singh retrieved a metal tack from the deceased’s throat and listed the cause of death as suffocation.
