Freak accident leads to the death of Mokopane pre-schooler
Blessing Kekana (4) died at her pre-school on 9 February
MOKOPANE – The community is still haunted by the freak accident and tragic death of a four-year-old Gr R learner of the Mokopane Primary Pre-School.
Blessing Kekana (4) died at her pre-school on 9 February when she slid down a slide at school and the strings of her windbreaker jacket got stuck at the top of the slide.
Blessing’s parents, Thomas and Portia, and her older sister Reneilwe (11) are still traumatised.
Portia says: “When the school called us and said my daughter has been in an accident and they are with her at the Voortrekker Hospital, our hearts stopped beating for a moment. They told us that she slid down and that the strings of her jacket got hooked. The teachers found her hanging on the slide.”
Portia furthermore claimed that teachers at the pre-school were not qualified in first aid.
“Blessing was buried in Tsamahansi on 17 February with a death certificate which stated she died of unnatural causes.”
According to Thomas, only two teachers from Mokopane Primary School attended Blessing’s funeral.
“Nobody from the pre-school and not even the principal attended. It is sad to know.”
Thomas and Portia describe Blessing as a lovely child always running around with a smile.
“She loved school and always had good things to say about it. We miss her and it is still hard to believe that she is gone. There is a big void in our house now. She was a true blessing.”
Portia said Reneilwe is still in Mokopane Primary School.
“She is traumatised about the incident and have to walk past her sister’s playground every day. It is very hard for her. Every child has a right to education and it would have been wrong for us to keep her at home but on the other hand we feel like she was nowhere safe.
“We wanted to send Reneilwe to another school but there was no space anywhere else.”
Principal of Mokopane Primary School, Ockert Groenewald, told Bosveld it was the first time that he has had to deal with an accident of this nature.
“The incident is very traumatic for us. The principal of the pre-school, Anneke van Huyssteen, phoned me saying the children called on the teachers on duty for help and they found Blessing hanging from the top of the slide.
“They immediately freed her and Van Huyssteen gave her mouth to mouth resuscitation but her heart was not beating.”
Groenewald said while he was phoning the Governing Body of the school, he asked Deputy Principal, Amy van Deventer, to drive to the pre-school and rush Blessing to hospital.
“I cannot say whether it was an instant death or whether negligence was part of the incident.”
Contrary to Portia’s claims, Groenewald said some of the teachers have a background in first aid training. He added some of the teachers also attended training last week. The school held a memorial service for Blessing and the children at the pre-school received trauma treatment.
“Everything was explained to them and a pastor also visited.”
According to the police, the post mortem results will be available on 10 April.
