A toddler of Bamboo Village, Valsayn, has died after a steel gate fell on him at his home on Friday night. According to a police report, around 7 pm, computer technician Ishwar Rampaul, 37, was at his John Drive, Bamboo No 3 home, attempting to fix his sliding front gate which had stuck in its tracks.
Rampaul had just sprayed it with WD40 and was pulling and pushing it in a bid to loosen the wheels. His two-year-old son, Adam Alejandro Rampaul, on realising that his father was outside the gate ran out of the house to meet him. As the child ran up to the gate it came tumbling down on him. His mother, Lisa Munglasingh, 35, did not reach in time to get him out of harm’s way and she was struck by the gate as she attempted to protect him. She suffered a broken left leg.
Both Mungalsingh and her son were taken to the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex, where Adam was pronounced dead on arrival. Little Adam was born with a hole in the heart and his medical condition was highlighted in the Sunday Guardian on September 28, 2014. His parents were raising funds for years to have the child flown to the United States for a cardiac catherisation procedure.
Open heart surgery was also an option, however Munglasingh said they chose for the child to undergo catherisation closure because it involved less trauma and a quicker healing time for her son. In December 2014, he was taken to Miami for medical screening and treatment at a paediatric hospital. When Sunday Guardian visted Rampaul and his wife yesterday, they were seen consoling each other in the garage area of their home. Relatives were also seen sitting around in silence.
Munglasingh said her husband came home from work about 6.30 pm and was opening the gate when it stuck. She said for about half an hour he was outside struggling with the gate. “Adam would go crazy for his daddy, so I had to keep him inside. I placed two boards blocking the doorway outside so that Adam wouldn’t run out to meet his daddy but when he (Adam) realised his dad was outside, he ran to the back of the house through the kitchen.
“He was so fast I couldn’t catch up with him, so I had to run through the front door. By this time, Adam had already reached to the front and was running towards the gate and that was when I darted out and almost grab him, but the gate had already started to fall. It was too late.” “It happened so quick. We were just in shock and still in shock.”
Rampaul, in tears, said he believed his only child, Adam, was God-sent. “Adam was a peaceful yet joyous child. He greeted everyone with a smile. He brought happiness to our lives.” An autospy is expected to be conducted at the Forensic Science Centre in St James tomorrow. Funeral arrangements are yet to be made.