Funeral in Longdenville on Saturday for drowned boy, 4

Instead of celebrating his birthday, a Longdenville family is set to attend the funeral of Brian Jagessar, who drowned in a swimming pool in Couva on April 30.

Brian would have turned five on Saturday.

His funeral takes place at the family’s home at Railway Road and then to the Longdenville public cemetery for burial.

Brian’s grandmother Kissoondai “Camini” Jagessar, 44, told Newsday the family was trying to cope.

Brian was the eldest of the three children of her daughter Mala Jagessar, 21.

“Mala went out to organise T-shirts for the funeral tomorrow. We are trying to deal with everything,” she said.

The family was at a get-together at Balmain when Brian went missing for a short time. Relatives later found Brian motionless in the pool and took him to the Couva health facility, where he died.

An autopsy said he drowned.

His grieving grandmother said she had not been at the get-together.

“I remained home. They left in the morning, and I got the news after 5 pm the same day.

"The children know that Brian died,” Jagessar said.

As well as Mala, Jagessar has eight other children aged from 19 to four.

Mala, her common-law husband, and their children live in a wooden house in front of Jagessar’s home.