Four years after losing his wife to a respiratory illness, Doodnath Rampersad suffered another tragic blow when his eldest son drowned in a pond on Saturday afternoon. Rishi Rampersad, 21, an MTS security guard, was fished out of the muddy pond at Lightbourne Village, Gasparillo, around 4.30 pm. His friends said he waded into the pond to check its depth and got into difficulties.
Sitting in a hammock at their home on Guaracarite Road, Mayo, yesterday, Rampersad said he was always protective of his children after his wife Sandra died on October 22, 2008. "I have three sons and two daughters, and since she died, we take care of each other," the grieving father said, as he struggled to hold back tears.
He said Rishi was not a strong swimmer and should not have gone into the pond. "He never told me he was going to bathe," Rampersad said. "He used to say he could swim but all he could really do is paddle. "He told me that he was going by Teddy pond with some of the boys and I told him to come back at 5 pm."
He said around 2.45 pm, he got a call that something had happened to Rishi. When he got to the pond, divers had already pulled Rishi's corpse to the bank. Rishi's younger brother Rajendra said he was supposed to meet Rishi at the pond. "Rishi told me to come and lime with them and watch him bathe...By the time I grabbed my bike to go to meet him, we heard the news," Rajendra said.
He said Rishi was always kind and would always give them money. "I used to make tea for him every night and massage his foot...He would always give me some money," Rajendra said. His other siblings Rajkumar, 19, Rekha, 17, and Radha, seven, were too distraught to speak.
Rishi's body was removed to the Forensic Science Centre. An autopsy is expected to be performed today. Constable Bailey, of Gasparillo Police Station, is continuing investigations.
