TRINIDAD EXPRESS – A 15-year-old Claxton Bay schoolboy is suspected to have accidentally hanged himself while swinging from a length of rope tied to a tree on Tuesday.
Luke Rolle had a pulse when he was taken to hospital, but died while doctors treated him.
The incident occurred near his grandmother’s home at Forres Park, Claxton Bay.
His grandmother, Marilyn David, wept as she spoke about the incident which occurred around midday.
“It was just a freak accident, he had no reason to commit suicide. He was a happy child”, she cried. “Luke was not accustomed to that swing. I don’t know if he ever went on it before”.
David said that Luke had been at her home for the last week spending the Easter holidays.
She said on Tuesday morning he had helped her with cleaning the house, and after he said he was going to a nearby parlour.
“He came back from the parlour around 11.30 a.m. and he said ‘Grandma, I am going on the hill’. I told him ‘okay’. That is where the other children from the area go to swing. There is a long piece of rope tied to a Samaan tree”, said David.
“He was such an obedient and loving child. He helped me do all the cleaning in the morning so I wanted to give him a little break”.
She said Luke went to the swing, along with his 14-year-old female cousin.
“When she came back down from the hill I asked her ‘Where is Luke?’ She said he was taking and swing and coming just now. I asked another boy. He said Luke was swinging but he wasn’t answering when he called him”, said David.
She said she asked another boy about Luke and “He said Luke was laughing and that the rope was underneath his neck”.
“I went up the hill and I called out to him three times. When I get closer I started to bawl, bawl, bawl. Another grandson came and slipped the rope from under his neck”, said the grandmother.
The ambulance services responded and paramedics took Luke to the San Fernando General Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.
Luke was a pupil of the Marabella North Secondary School. He was a Form Four sciences pupil, David said.
“He was very kind, loving and helpful. He would never back answer no matter what you tell him”, she said.
An autopsy was expected to be performed on Wednesday at the San Fernando mortuary.
Officers of the Couva CID and Homicide Division Region III responded.
