PME “inconclusive” on cause of death of soldier at Tacama

Days after Corporal Leroy Thom of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) died during training at Tacama in Region Ten, the post-mortem examination ended inconclusively, leaving his family still grappling for answers.

The man’s wife, Caffeya Forde, told Guyana Times that the post-mortem examination was conducted on Monday morning, and pathologist was unable to give the cause of death for her husband.
“They couldn’t say from the post-mortem examination what was the cause of death, so they took some samples and they said they would take them to the lab to see if they would be able to figure out how he died. So, right now, we are waiting to see what the results will be when they are done,” the woman said.
Thom, 30, a member of the 2nd Infantry Battalion and resident of Blueberry Hill in Linden, suddenly collapsed and died on Friday evening while in training at the Colonel John Clarke Military School at Tacama.
News of his demise was relayed to the family at about 23:30h that evening, but family members are contending that they have a lot of questions surrounding Forde’s death.
At the time, he was undergoing training on the Section Commander’s Course.
Following his demise, the GDF had stated that Thom had complained of feeling unwell during a routine training event, and had been taken to the Medical Centre where he was attended to by a registered nurse and medics.
After his condition had deteriorated, a request was made for a medevac, and a team of medical specialists from the Georgetown Public Hospital was air-dashed to the training school. Upon arrival, the GDF said, all efforts to resuscitate Thom proved futile, and the soldier was consequently pronounced dead.
A Board of Inquiry will be convened to investigate the circumstances surrounding this corporal’s death, the GDF has said.
In a subsequent interview, Forde shared details of her husband’s last days and his sudden death. Thom had left home on Monday to attend to his driver’s license and returned on Tuesday morning before heading to work.
He was participating in a section commander course for a promotion. Thom messaged his wife on Friday morning, stating he was returning to Tacama for training. Later that day, a friend informed Forde of Thom’s serious condition at Tacama. She claimed she was only officially informed of his situation by the GDF late Friday night.
Thom’s colleagues revealed he collapsed while training, complaining of numbness in his foot. Forde, devastated by Thom’s sudden death, had emphasized to this publication his vital role in their family and the lack of communication from the GDF about his condition. (G9)