St Margaret’s student died from fractured skull – autopsy

The eight-year-old St Margaret’s Primary School pupil, Joshua Hubbard who died hours after being pushed by another student for a rose had suffered a fractured skull and ruptured spine coupled with a blood clot in his head.

These were the findings of Dr Nehaul Singh who performed a post-mortem on the child’s remains on Monday at the Georgetown Public Hospital mortuary. The third grade pupil of 45 Pere Street, Kitty, Georgetown succumbed at the Woodlands Hospital just after 02:00h on Friday, moments after he was rushed to the medical facility.
Joshua’s father, Orin Hubbard, on Monday told Guyana Times International that he witnessed the post-mortem on the body of his only son earlier in the day and he was saddened about the findings. He again asked: “Why didn’t my son tell me that he was in pain?”
He said that after the post-mortem examination, he visited St Margaret’s Primary School for a brief meeting with the school administration and officials from the Education Ministry. At the meeting, he learnt that instead of one pupil being involved in the “pushing incident”, two students are being questioned in connection with the incident.
He added that the parents of one of the students extended condolences to him, while the relatives of the other did not express remorse. Hubbard added that the school’s administration indicated to him that the probe into the matter has been handed over fully to the ministry.
Contacted on the matter, Chief Education Officer Olato Sam revealed that a preliminary report has been compiled by officials who investigated the matter but he was not privy to the findings just yet. The elder Hubbard told this publication that prior to his son’s death, the child had made a complaint to his mother about one of the boys who is being held accountable for his death. The mother subsequently visited the school and requested that her son be removed from the seat he shared with the child, but this did not stop the bullying.
Reports are that on the day of the incident, the child reportedly purchased a Valentine’s Day rose for his mother which the other child wanted. Hubbard refused to hand over the rose, leading to a confrontation during which he was pushed down a stairway. He reportedly dusted himself off and carried on; after a while, he was again approached by his attacker who demanded that he handed over the rose but he stood his ground.
Not satisfied, the other child reportedly pushed him onto the ground in the school’s yard. Moments after the incident, Hubbard’s father picked him up from school and took him home. About 01:30h the next day, he got up, crying out for pain in his head and abdomen. He was later rushed to the hospital after his sister, who is a nurse, failed to find a pulse.
Within 30 minutes of his arrival at the Woodlands Hospital, the young Hubbard took his last breath although doctors tried desperately to save his life. He was laid to rest on Friday. He leaves to mourn parents, two sisters, and a foster brother.