Narad told of his brother’s death

SHORTLY after eight-year-old Narad Motilal was temporarily discharged from Sangre Grande District Hospital on Saturday, his parents broke the tragic news that his elder brother, nine-year-old, Sharma, had died.

Doctors agreed to temporarily discharge the child from the hospital to allow him to attend his brother’s funeral service today at the family’s Kernaham Village, Mayaro, home.

After the funeral, Narad will return to the hospital where doctors would continue to monitor him.

Speaking to Newsday yesterday, a close female relative said after they spoke to the doctors, the children parents, Suresh and Sally Motilal, sat with their younger son and “tried to explain to him in the most fitting way that his brother was dead.”

“He didn’t take it good at all. He cried on the hospital bed, and then on the way home he didn’t say much,” the relative said.

She said while Narad understood his brother was dead, “He still believes somehow his brother will come back.” The relavie said when the family got home, the boy was still asking for his brother. The two were inseparable, she said.

“When he came home he still asked for Sharma. It really breaks my heart so much to know what this boy is going through.”

Narad is also receiving counselling. The relative said the family would be keeping a close eye on him. “Tomorrow (today) when he sees his brother in the coffin is what we are afraid of. We could have only kept the pain away for so long. We had to tell him that his brother died before the funeral service.”

An autopsy report showed Sharma died from accidential poisoning. Police sources also said poor ventilation, fumes from PVC pipe fittings and smoke from the mosquito coil combined to create the setting for the boys to breathe in poisoned air as they slept on Wednesday night.

When their parents went to wake Sharma up at 6 am, on Thursday, to prepare for school, he was unresponsive and barely breathing.

In another bedroom, Narad was also unresponsive. Sharma was pronounced dead on arrival at the Mayaro Health Facility while Narad was transferred to Sangre Grande District Hospital.