Dad on toddler’s drowning: It was a tragic accident

Nigel Charles, the father of two-year-old Ahjah Charles, who drowned in an above-ground pool in Sea Lots, Port of Spain on December 15, is describing the boy’s death as a tragic accident.

Charles said he believed baby Ahjah might have wandered into the neighbour's yard unsupervised, lured by a bike that is used by the children in the neighbourhood, then to a pool at the back of the house, where he met his death.

Charles said his wife was preparing Ahjah, his sister’s children and others to go to a Christmas party nearby when the boy slipped away.

“All my nieces and nephews were there while everyone was getting ready. My wife told my sister to watch him for a moment while she went for something to come back.

“He was with all the children playing and one of the children fell and cut his lip. My sister took the children to the pipe to see about the child, and when she came back, she realised he was missing."

He said residents began searching for the little boy, but it was his brother-in-law who discovered the child.

“He told me, ‘I have a bad feeling, I am going to check the back of the house,’ and he went to the neighbour’s yard and found him in the pool,” he said.

They rushed the unresponsive baby to the Port of Spain General Hospital, but despite the best efforts of doctors, the child died.

Charles said Ahjah was an intelligent, inquisitive child. He said they often had to watch him closely, as he used to wander off.

“He is a boy that likes to walk. He would be all outside by the shop, but everyone knows him, so they would look out for him. Sometimes when we are home we have to lock the door because he would just open it and walk outside.”

He said the child's name came to him in a dream.

"You can say I got it from God," he said.