Education Minister pledges support for three children injured by boulder in St Elizabeth

Minister of Education Senator Dr Dana Morris Dixon has indicated that the Ministry, along with the Ministry of Health and Wellness, is providing support to the three students who sustained injuries after being hit by a boulder in St Elizabeth.

Two schoolchildren, ages nine and 10, were badly injured, and a third child was treated and released after a boulder fell on them while they were walking to Merry Wood Primary School, along a train track in Breadnut Walk in north-western St Elizabeth on Friday, September 11.

The route along the train tracks is used by residents of Breadnut Walk and Merry Wood to get to and from their homes, as it is a shorter route than the 3.6-kilometre journey on the community road.

Morris Dixon visited one of the three children at University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) in St Andrew on September 12, where she expressed sadness over the incident.

“It’s really, really sad. It is three children who got injured, and one is more severely injured than the others and had to be brought from St Elizabeth to Kingston, to the University Hospital of the West Indies and is now in the ICU getting care,” Morris Dixon told JIS News after visiting the child and her parents at the hospital.

“Her injuries are significant and will take a long time to heal. We are asking all of Jamaica to pray for her [and] pray for her family. Right now, she is in a coma, and so it is important that we pray and provide as much support as possible,” she added.

Morris Dixon also committed the support of her Ministry, as well as the Ministry of Health and Wellness, to the families of all three students.

“This is a route that has been used for a long time, and a lot of children…at the school would have used that route, so they would be traumatised too. So, the Ministry of Education, we are going to be providing support to those children who are also hurting because of what has happened,” she said.

For his part, Deputy Superintendent of Police and Divisional Commander for St Elizabeth, Coleridge Minto, said that the incident was unfortunate.

“The fact that one sustained that degree of injury requires all of us to support the family, the institutions, and to ensure that our children will get the best treatment during this time,” Minto told JIS News.

“The other two children involved in this incident, one is still at the Black River Hospital. That child sustained a fractured arm, as well as injury to the skull. The other child was treated and released the same day. We continue to pray for the recovery of all of our children who went through this very difficult ordeal,” he added.

Meanwhile, Head of the Department of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, UHWI, Dr Kelvin Metalor, told JIS News that the child is being given the highest level of care at the hospital.

“Since the child came here, the child has been attended to and continues to be attended to. It’s extremely high levels of care and we are actually seeing some improvements in the condition of the child. We are happy the child has made some progress, and we hope she continues to make progress,” Metalor said.

- JIS News

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