There was no lifeguard present when 13-year-old Ray Stuart Jnr. drowned at the Jubilee Resort at Timehri, East Bank Demerara on Wednesday.
The boy’s sister Alana Stuart told the News Room that her brother ‘Junior’ – as he was commonly called – could not swim and so he initially only went into the kid’s section of the pool.
“We all went into the pool and we all were swimming and we know he couldn’t swim, so he was in the little children’s pool all the time.”
But later, Junior told relatives that he was going to get something to drink but according to Alana, they did not see when he re-entered the pool; this time, he went into the adult, deeper end of the pool.
“Nobody didn’t see him come in or nothing…then my daddy came and said ‘where is Junior?’
This was about 11:00hrs. The family spent the next 10 minutes searching for the teenager. Alana said they called out for him, they searched the bathroom and the entire resort but there were signs of Junior.
“When my uncle checked, he saw somebody at the bottom of the water and when they checked, it was my brother,” the devastated sibling explained.
It is unclear how long the teenager was under the water but his father, who served as a medic in the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), desperately tried to resuscitate him.
Junior was then rushed to the GDF Health Centre at Timehri and: “they said he was already gone and then we proceeded to Diamond Hospital.”
Family tradition
It had become a tradition for the Stuart family to celebrate the birthday of the Senior Ray Stuart at the Jubilee Resort.
“The last two years, we were there for his birthday and we decided to take a trip there again this year, but the last two years my brother didn’t come,” the sister stated.
Wednesday was his first time at the resort. He was the only son and third child for his father.
He attended the East Ruimveldt Secondary School in Georgetown and was described as a playful and friendly child.
He lived with his father at Robb Street in Georgetown and his sister said they did not get to see him often.
“He is the only son and my dad does do anything for that child,” Alana said.
The body is now at the Memorial Gardens Mortuary where an autopsy will be conducted.
