Family mourns drowned boy

On the veranda of the house where Leroy Lyber resided in Christian Pen, St Catherine, his mother, Doretta Freckleton, polished the steps as she tried to cope with the passing of her last child and relatives sat in silence.

"About before two I heard about it. It is the first him go over deh and about seven a dem mi hear go over deh," Freckleton said. "When I went by the school I heard that someone else was trying to save another one, then him swim off and he wasn't able to survive."

bathing horses

Lyber, 16, a student of Bridgeport High, drowned on Wednesday at Caymanas Park when he and a group of friends went to swim in a 12 feet deep pool designated for bathing horses. "I always encourage them to get an education," Freckleton said. "Right now my church members just finish a prayer meeting and it is helping me to cope."

Lyber's brother, Sylbert, 19, was visibly distraught. "We had a plan to make our mother proud. Him did waan become a soldier and I was to go back to get some subjects," he said. "Two nights before it happen mi ask if a electrician work him waan do and him seh him just a do that over the summer fi mek money. Now all a di plans seem dead."

grieving sessions

Inspector Mark Goffe, from the Caymanas Police Station, said police got an emergency call about 3:30 p.m., that Lyber has drowned. "When I arrive on the scene he was still in the water and a group of young men fetched the body," Inspector Goffe said. "Investigation about what happened is currently underway. We are still trying to figure out if any other persons were involved."

Guidance Counsellor at the school, Audrey Forbes, said representatives from The Ministry of Education conducted grieving sessions yesterday. "The other students who were involved were not able to cope with the passing and were sent to the doctor before being sent home," Forbes said.