Blue Hole survivor dies after asthma attack

Sherona Peterkin was among countless social media users who initially found it amusing that a man would wade into a river, knowing he could not swim.

The man, Maurice Matthews, a phone technician from 14 Miles in St Thomas, had travelled with friends to Blue Hole in Westomoreland for a day of frolic on Sunday, March 6.

An amateur video, which surfaced on social media, shows him going for a swim, shortly after his compatriots tried to throw him into the clear blue water. However, soon afterwards, he had to be rescued by friends.

Peterkin, like many persons who saw the video, shook her head and smirked after getting an initial look. However, that moment of amusement quickly gave way to concern. She recognised the 'struggling' male to be her brother, Maurice.

"I was wondering why the person jumped off knowing he couldn't swim. When I saw another part of the video, I realised it was my brother and I sent it to some of my other family members but not even them had realised it was him at first, too," she said.

Peterkin said that Maurice suffered from chronic asthma and stated that he was not a swimmer, so she was somewhat surprised when she realised that he had decided to take a dive.

A week later, Maurice was dead. The cause of his death has not yet been determined, but Peterkin feels his demise is linked to the plunge that he reluctantly decided to take.

Ann Marie Peterkin, Maurice's mother, said he was not feeling well on the day he left for Blue Hole.

"He was coughing before he left on Sunday. He was coughing a bit, but this happens sometimes because of his asthma. He didn't plan on going in the water and that was really the type of person he was. He was very quiet and would stay by himself," she said.

"When he came back home on Sunday night, he began having shortness of breath and was still coughing. He was feeling worse from he went in the water," she added.

The Saturday before he died, Peterkin said that her mother informed her that she was on her way to the hospital with Maurice as he was having difficulties breathing, and was having an asthma attack. She said it was discovered that he had developed a chest infection and was given antibiotics.

"The hospital was out of nebuliser and oxygen and his asthma was really bad. He got the medications but he still wasn't feeling good up to Sunday. On Monday, my mother call me and she was bawling out and they were rushing him to the hospital but by the time they got there, Maurice had died," she said.

Devastated, Peterkin believes that her bother would have been alive today if he did not take the plunge at Blue Hole that Sunday.

"He was sitting by himself and he reminded them about his asthma, and some of them were still making a mockery of him. Mi nah blame nobody say dem kill him, but if dem did leave him alone him woulda deh yaso right now. Him would deh here now with him two sons. That is what I believe," she said.