Tragedy in Guyana: 6-year-old drowns after jumping into deep water to help friend

Guyana: Kayden Busey, a six-year-old Guyanese boy lost his life after entering deep waters at a popular swimming spot in East Bank Berbice without his parents’ knowledge. The young boy, a Grade One Pupil of All Saints Primary School, was swimming with a group of children at a waterside location known as “Sixth Bridge” in Glasgow, East Bank Berbice, where he drowned.

The relatives reported that the children had gone to the area without informing their parents. Eyewitnesses told the family members that the children were making TikTok videos near the swimming spot when the tragedy occurred.

Gaynor Paul, Kayden’s mother, noted that she had done detox and was sleeping but became alarmed after her neighbour told her that her child was reportedly missing near the waterside. She subsequently rushed to the location when she realised that her children weren’t home.

“That is when I jump on my bike and I go straight to the dam and I see me two lil one and I ask them where your brother and my son say he deh in the water. I go to the water and at the same time two people jump in,” she said.

She said that the men searching for the child told her that the area where the child had reportedly gone under was deep.

“When them searching them na find he, so I think like he gone home back, so i ride go home, but then we still couldn’t find he,” she stated.

According to the official reports and eye witness statements, it is alleged that Kayden entered the water as he thought an older child was in trouble and needed assistance. His eight-year-old brother stated that he saw Kayden struggling in the deep water before he disappeared.

However, as per the information provided to the family, the children were playing a prank by pretending to drown.

“He is a loving one, he like talk, he don’t play, you can’t tell he stupidness,” Paul said and described her son as a loving and caring child who was always willing to help others.

A frantic search was launched and began immediately but the child could not be located until a family acquaintance jumped into the water and recovered Kayden’s body from the deep area. The six-year-old was subsequently rushed to the New Amsterdam Hospital, where the doctors pronounced him as dead.

Residents further noted that the waterside location has been regarded as dangerous because of its depth and previous drowning incidents.

Kayden’s mother said she had often warned her children about going to the area unsupervised. “I does always tell them about the back there. If I didn’t drink my detox, they would a never left the yard,” she noted.

The incident has left family, friends, relatives and residents in a shock as they struggle to come to terms with the loss of a young boy whose pure attempt to help another child ended in a tragedy.