A postmortem examination conducted on the body of Corporal Leroy Thom was unable to provide the man’s grieving family with answers regarding his sudden death during a training exercise at Tacama in Region Ten (Upper Demerara-Berbice).
Corporal Thom died on Friday evening whilst in training at the Colonel John Clarke Military School.
However, a postmortem conducted on the body on Monday was inconclusive, according his wife, Caffeya Forde.
“They couldn’t say from the postmortem 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 told this publication.
It was reported that Thom, 30, a member of the 2nd Infantry Battalion and resident of Blueberry Hill in Linden, suddenly collapsed and died.
News of his demise was relayed to the family at about 23:30h that evening, but family members are contending there are more questions than answers.
At the time, he was undergoing training on the Section Commander’s Course.
Following his demise, the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) in a statement explained that the soldier 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, but 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.
The man’s wife has since told this publication that her husband never suffered from any illnesses.
The woman said her husband’s sudden death has severely impacted her and their four-year-old son. She is still in disbelief.
“Words cannot express how I feel. Leroy was my everything. I am the only child of my mother, and last year my mother lost her foot. Leroy was that foot, and he replaced that foot. He was there through everything.
“He is the breadwinner of our family. We have a child, and Leroy didn’t even get to build a house or put his family how he wanted to. Nothing he really got a chance to do,” she said.
“This is so short and sudden. The GDF didn’t even call me, even if it was to say he fell, he hit his head or something, that I shouldn’t worry and they will try to see what they can do. Nothing! I found out he died at 11 in the night,” she reiterated.
