Parents demand answers after 9-Y-O son dies less than 24 hours after falling ill

Nine-year-old Shaquan Semple, formerly of D’Edward Village, West Coast Berbice (WCB), has died under mysterious circumstances less than 24 hours after falling ill.

His parents are demanding answers from health authorities.

The boy was a student of the Number Five Primary School and on March 12, the school’s authorities contacted his parents to inform that he was unwell.

The child’s father Maxton Semple told this publication that after receiving the call, he went to the school to uplift his son and took him home.

The man said his son had a slight fever but did not complain of any severe symptoms.

However, at around 20:30hrs that evening, the child’s condition worsened, and he started to vomit.

As such, the family decided to take him to the Fort Wellington Hospital at around 21:30hrs.

Upon arrival at the hospital, the father said he explained his son’s condition to a doctor.

According to the father, the boy was given an injection and oxygen, and doctors conducted a test for dengue but the results returned negative.

The family was eventually sent home at around 2:15hrs the following day – March 13. Upon returning home, the child was still vomiting.  He eventually retired to bed.

Shortly after sunrise that day, the child’s mother went to wake him up but he was unresponsive.

They rushed him to the Fort Wellington Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

According to the death certificate, the child died as a result of severe anemia. The father told this publication that he and his wife sent his son to school in a healthy condition. He is demanding answers on how his son’s condition deteriorated so quickly and why the medical professionals at the hospital could not help to save his son’s life.