Zakiah dies days before sixth birthday

Kinnesha George

Two days short of her sixth birthday, five-year-old Zakiah Lorde has died.

The Black Rock Government Primary School infant student who was hit in her head by a falling tree branch, last Wednesday, succumbed to the injuries yesterday just after 4.30 pm.

Family members and friends rushed to Scarborough General Hospital as the news of Lorde’s passing began circulating. Tobago House of Assembly (THA) Secretary of Health, Wellness and Family Development Dr Agatha Carrington was also present.

Sunday Newsday was told that after receiving the news, Lorde’s mother, Rykiel Clarke, was so devastated she had to be placed on a bed as her blood pressure skyrocketed.

Last Wednesday, three workmen were trimming a tree at the front of the house where Lorde resided at Hopeton Road, Black Rock, when a branch fell on her as she was leaving for school just after 8 am. Lorde slipped into a coma and has been in that condition ever since. It is reported that she suffered fractures to her skull.

It was only on Friday, family, friends and well-wishers gathered at the hospital’s chapel as they held a candlelight vigil for her recovery.

Last Thursday, the Division of Infrastructure, Quarries and the Environment, in a statement, expressed deep regret over the incident.

“Preliminary reports reaching the administrator indicate that a team dispatched to the area was in the process of cutting overhanging trees. As a result, the office of the administrator has launched an investigation into the matter. Meanwhile, the management has been in contact with the family and will continue to provide support during this difficult period. Further, the division is making arrangements to provide counselling for employees involved in the incident. Moreover, the division has initiated an immediate review of its safety procedures and protocols in an effort to mitigate against these types of incidents,” it read.

Lorde’s father, Zaki Lorde was shot dead in the vicinity of Live Wire Pub in Lambeau in October 2016. He was a poultry farmer and a sanitation worker employed with the Division of Infrastructure and Public Utilities and was the second murder recorded for Tobago that year. To date no one has been held and officers have confirmed that investigations are ongoing.