Psychiatric patient drowns at Eastville

A patient of the Psychiatric Hospital in Berbice died by drowning at Eastvillve Housing Scheme, East Coast Demerara Monday morning.

Dead is 35 years old woman, Nicola Alphonso. The incident occurred around 07:30hrs.
According to Linda Alphonso, mother of the deceased, the hospital had informed her last week that Nicola needed a pair of spectacles, but the institution does not provide same. The mother related that it has been three years and one month since Nicola has been taking treatment for her mental condition and was on her way to recovery.

However, unbeknownst to the family, Linda said she brought her daughter home to surprise the family and for her to spend some time with them. Linda said it was her intention to take her daughter to get her eyes tested for her glasses. She also stated that Nicola may have taken a mixture of medications early Monday morning, which triggered her mental state for the worse.

Moments later, Nicola left the home unbeknownst to the family and reportedly threw herself into a trench, just a short distance away from the home. An alarm was raised by villagers, but Nicola had already spent more than 20 minutes under the water. A young man later jumped into the trench to look for her. He subsequently brought her lifeless body from beneath the water. Police were then summoned and an ambulance with EMT’s arrived. CPR was performed on Nicola but it was too late.

More than 700,000 people across the world die by suicide every year. That’s almost 2,000 people every single day. Anyone who has reached the point of wanting to end their life needs support and compassion. Guyana, with one of the highest suicide rates in the world, agreed to decriminalise suicide. The Suicide Prevention Bill, 2022 not only repealed the law that made suicide a criminal offence but replaced it with a national suicide prevention plan. Today, Guyana is in the process of establishing suicide prevention centres throughout the country and rolling out public programmes to reduce suicide attempts. Guyana’s action has sparked hope in other Small Island Developing States (SIDS) where suicide is still a crime, such as St Lucia, the Bahamas and Suriname.