Woman still shocked at grandson's death

WESTERN BUREAU:

DAYS AFTER Carlene Jones' two-year-old grand-son Tyreek Stewart was killed by a lightning strike at their home in Tankey, St Elizabeth, she cannot remember him without tears coming to her eyes.

Little Tyreek died on Monday after a bolt of lightning struck the back door where he was standing. The strike also injured Jones' leg and chest and caused substantial damage to several areas at the front and back of the house.

The tragedy occurred one year after another family member who lived nearby died when lightning struck him at his house, and two months after Jones' brother was shot and killed by robbers.

"I was at my house, cooking, and just about 3:30 p.m., we had a thunderstorm. I was in the bedroom, me and my grandson, and I went into the kitchen and took off the pot and put it on the table," Jones recalled when The Gleaner visited her house on Wednesday.

'Lightning hit me'

"I was standing in the doorway, and Tyreek came and held on to my shorts, and I heard a sudden sound. Lightning hit me on my foot and the baby was standing before me; it also hit him, and he fell to the ground."

Jones said she immediately picked up the baby and ran down the road for half a mile, calling for her daughter, the child's mother, who lives nearby. They then called for a taxi, following which they rushed to Black River to seek medical treatment.

"When we went to Black River, the doctor told us to put the baby on the bed, and they put the screen around the bed, and they told me and the driver to stay back; only the mother and the doctors were in there, and I couldn't hear what they were saying," said Jones.

Soon afterwards, the family got the bad news: Tyreek had sustained a cracked skull and significant brain damage as a result of the incident, and that, combined with severe facial burns, had claimed his life.

"I couldn't take it. I couldn't stand up to face it," Jones admitted quietly. "The doctor told Tyreek's mother that if the baby were to live, he wouldn't have known anybody."

Since that time, Jones added, friends and family members have offered their sympathies and, up to Wednesday morning, representa-tives from the police and the Victim Support Unit offered counselling. She noted that Tyreek's parents are taking their loss very hard, while she herself is currently on medication and a prescribed diet to cope with the trauma.

"Tyreek was so very polite. We'd bring him to church, and the pastor would say 'Praise the Lord', and he (Tyreek) would say 'Praise the Lord'," she recounted, pausing to wipe her eyes.

"I miss him a lot. He was born in my hand, and he died in my hand. But I have to give God thanks, because it could have been both of us."

christopher.thomas@gleanerjm.com