Soldier dies after training session

A Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Corporal died on Saturday, hours after completing a training session at the Colonel John Clarke Military School at Tacama, Upper Berbice River.

Dead is Corporal Leroy Thom 22258 of 2 Infantry Battalion, who resided at Blueberry Hill, Linden. He was a student of the Army’s Section Commander Course.

The GDF, in a press statement on Saturday, said Corporal Thom complained of feeling unwell during a routine training event.

As such, he was taken to the medical centre where he was attended to by a registered nurse and medics.

Corporal Thom’s condition deteriorated, and according to the GDF, a request was made for a medevac and a team of medical specialists from the Georgetown Public Hospital to attend to him.

The team was air dashed to the training school on board the Bell 412 helicopter, GDF said.

However, upon their arrival, efforts made to resuscitate Corporal Thom were futile and he was pronounced dead.

His body was thereafter transported to Georgetown for a post-mortem examination.

The GDF said a Board of Inquiry will be convened to investigate the circumstances surrounding his death.

Corporal Thom’s family has since been notified of the incident, GDF said.

In the statement, the Chief of Defence Staff, Brigadier Omar Khan, officers and ranks of the GDF extend their deepest condolences to Corporal Thom’s family, friends, and colleagues.