Scores of past and present students and lecturers of the University of Guyana (UG) took to social media to mourn the death of a former UG valedictorian who reportedly drowned last Sunday during an outing with friends at the “Parika Back”, East Bank Essequibo.
Dead is Michael George, a father of two, who hails from La Jalousie, West Coast Demerara (WCD).
The incident occurred just two days before his 32nd birthday.
Reports are the man went to the waterside last Sunday with three of his friends for a pre-birthday hang. George is said to have drowned between 16:00hrs and 17:00hrs.
A family member told this publication that the father of two was at home, when his friends called him out to go and “hang”. His family subsequently received a telephone call that the man went under water just minutes after he went in to swim.
As his friends rushed to the scene, they found his motionless body; and the police was immediately summoned.
Inews understands that before George went to hang with his friends, he was warned by his brother not to go into the water since he did not know how to swim.
According to police, when they arrived on the scene, the dead man’s friends told them that as soon as he reached at the waterside, he took his clothes off, and walked into the water. Shortly after he disappeared.
His friends said they went to search for him, and found him some five-ten minutes later. They told the police that they tried to perform mouth-to-mouth resuscitation but they could not have saved him.
According to reports, an inspection on the man’s body by detectives showed no marks of violence. However, the police are awaiting the results of the postmortem to know exactly what transpired.
George was the valedictorian of the West Demerara Secondary School class of 2005. He was also the valedictorian for the UG class of 2010, where he pursued a Bachelor’s Degree in Chemistry. He graduated with distinction and earned the President’s Medal.
He also held a PhD in Biochemistry Engineering from the University of Alberta and was working as a lecturer at the Texila American University. He also taught fifth and Sixth Form classes at the Saraswati Vidya Niketan School.
George was described as “a true genius” who has impacted many lives.
