Senior Reporter
anna-lisa.paul@guardian.co.tt
The Laventille community was in mourning yesterday, following the death of two-year-old Kamarion Wilson, who drowned in an above-ground pool on Sunday.
But at least one resident said the incident should be a wake-up call, as he appealed to parents yesterday to, “stop letting children watch children.”
The man, of Upper Erica Street, Rock City, Laventille, told Guardian Media that parents need to, “ensure the safety of children first in all things.”
The toddler, who was described by villagers as “a real loving and real nice child,” drowned in the above-ground pool on Sunday at the home of a relative, where he had gone to spend the day.
Police said Kamarion had been in the company of other children playing in the pool when a woman who was cooking in the kitchen was informed by a 12-year-old boy that the toddler was not breathing.
The frantic woman ran outside to find the two-year-old unresponsive in the pool.
The child was rushed to the Port-of-Spain General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 3.30 pm.
Several relatives who had been present at the scene on Sunday were interviewed by the police.
A visibly distraught Darcell Wilson identified her son’s body at the Forensic Science Centre, St James, yesterday.
Declining to speak with reporters, Wilson begged for time to digest the tragedy.
When Guardian Media visited the community, several residents said the toddler’s death had left them shaken.
One resident said, “The whole place sad, everybody real crying.”
The man said he knew Kamarion from the area.
“I knew the child. He was real loving, a real nice child. He was friendly, always smiling, glad...real, real nice child,” he said.
Asked if the blue pool, which remained up yesterday, was something the family was accustomed to using all the time, he said, “The pool always there and is a normal thing for the family to come and bathe.”
The resident also had some advice for parents.
“They need to put kids’ safety first and stop letting children watch children.”
In a release dated July 6, the Children’s Authority urged parents and guardians to make child safety a top priority. It said that the July-August vacation period was a time for leisure, fun and exploration.
“There is a need for all adults to remain watchful, and safeguard all children from abuse, maltreatment and physical harm.”
The authority pointed out that, “as a result of the changes to the routines of children during the vacation period and a lack of adequate supervision and caregiver awareness, children are more vulnerable to accidents, harm and abuse.”