Father, daughter laid to rest

Wakapao suspected poisoning

…son remains in ICU

As members of the Thomas family of Wakapao in Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam) continue to mourn the loss of their loved ones who died as a result of a mysterious illness last week after consuming cassava bread, they are thankful that three other family members were discharged and recovering at home. However, Gavin Thomas, the brother and son of the two deceased, remains hospitalised at the Georgetown Public Hospital’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU).
Selena Thomas and her father, Edward Richards, were laid to rest on Tuesday at Wakapao during an emotional funeral service where scores of persons from their village gathered to get a glimpse of their remains.

A relative told Guyana Times on Wednesday that they are trying to come to grips with what transpired and are praying for a speedy recovery of the only member that is still hospitalised. “We are still trying to deal with the whole situation. Everything happened so fast. Just like that we lost two of our family together it’s really rough. They were both healthy and jovial. We are happy the other three were discharged and we are praying for a successful recovery for Gavin too. It’s been a while already. He is still receiving treatment in ICU and he is the only member of the family that couldn’t be at the funeral yesterday (Tuesday),” she said.
She stated that the family has made no alternative arrangements regarding what will be done with their farm; as they insisted that no pesticides were used. “They haven’t decided yet what they will do about their crops and so on, but they maintained that they never used any pesticides or chemicals or anything like that,” she said.

The relative added that Police had visited the community and questioned several residents; however, no further information was obtained.
The entire family became ill after consuming cassava bread on June 10. It was also reported that two dogs were also fed the cassava bread and subsequently died.
However, Post Mortem Examinations conducted on both Richards and Thomas were inconclusive. Samples were sent overseas for further testing.

Meanwhile Indigenous leaders have come out to voice their concerns over this issue. They called for a full investigation into the matter and refuted the claims of cyanide poisoning reported to relatives by medical officials.