A mother’s nightmare

A mother’s worst nightmare became reality on Tuesday at Caymanas Mineral Spa in St Catherine when her six-year-old son drowned despite her desperate efforts to save him.

Shawneece Forbes recounted the harrowing moments, telling The Gleaner on Friday that she and her son, Josiah ‘Josh’ Lewis, a grade-one student of Alpha Primary School, were sitting on concrete steps when he reportedly slipped and fell into the water.

Forbes had brought Josh along with her one-year-old daughter, Jamila, for some family time, and according to her, Josh had not yet been into the water when the tragic incident occurred.

“I tell myself that we a go have a likkle reasoning because for three months now mi nuh see him, because mi and mi mada have ups and downs, so I was trying to avoid problems when I go to the house. Mi and him did a go reason, and mi ask him how school and what is the case but, by the time mi sit down, Josh slip off the step,” she said.

Forbes said she jumped in right away but realised it was deep.

“So when mi go in deh and grab him, mi a go wid him, and same time mi realise say him a drown and mi a drown,” she recalled.

CRIES FOR HELP

She said she dipped under the water three times while desperately calling out for help. Not many people were present, but one young man came to her aid.

When he pulled her out, she told him her son was still in the water, but when he went to check, he could not find Josh. By then, other people had joined the search, but they were unsuccessful.

Sometime later, a woman spotted Josh, and the man who had saved her went and pulled him out of the water.

By that time, Forbes said she was crying and panicking, like many of the people there, unsure what to do.

A man performed CPR on Josh, who had vomited some of the water and appeared to be alive, but she later realised he had become unresponsive and feared he had died.

“Mi just deh a cry, I didn’t know what to do. I was paranoid, and everyone was videoing. When mi realise say my son died, mi realise say no one had called the police,” she recalled, noting that it was at that point she called them.

Asked how she has been coping, she said, “Right now mi not even a eat and drink. Mi not even a sleep, nothing.”

The tragedy has left Forbes consumed with guilt.

“Mi a go blame miself, yes, but at the end of the day, things happen now, and everybody suppose to come together.”

According to her, the tragedy has deepened existing tensions within the family, but she said she is willing to mend fences with her mother, who had been raising Josh from when he was five months old.

Forbes explained that she had been living with her mother but had moved out and left her son because of ongoing strain.

The tearful grandmother, Charmaine Faulkner, who broke down when The Gleaner visited her home in Denham Town, described her grandson as a very loving, promising, and caring youngster.

The shopkeeper shared that he was not only her companion but her “eyes”, because she has challenges with her vision.

“When mi sidung yah suh and mi eyes dem tired, a him mi call fi sell somebody. And when de TV fi go pon de station, den a him mi call,” she said through tears.

She said Josh loved running and football and proudly displayed several gold medals he had won from competitions since infant school. She also said he was very brilliant and had placed first in his class.

Faulkner said she had been looking forward to getting him a toy truck for his birthday on February 18 and had already told his father to order it.

The grieving grandmother, who is also struggling to come to terms with his death, said she is willing to work on her relationship with her daughter and has been encouraged by her son not to blame her for the incident.

The tragedy has also affected the wider community. Faulkner said Josh’s teacher does not know how she will explain his death to classmates, while the driver who regularly picked him up for school was visibly shaken. Josh would have turned seven on February 18.

Funeral arrangements are being finalised as Central Village police continue their investigation into the incident.

tanesha.mundle@gleanerjm.com