Chanmattee Deonarinesingh said yesterday that she loved baby Kristiano Aziz and was very sorry he died while under her care. Deonarinesingh, 45, a qualified nurse who has been running a daycare at her Barrackpore home for the past ten years, spoke out about the incident for the first time since the baby’s death.
The baby’s mother Lisa Ramjattan, 26, found the child unresponsive when she went to pick him up on Monday. He was lying on his tummy in a bed top pen. The child was later pronounced dead at the Princes Town District Health Centre. An autopsy found his death was caused by positional asphyxia and his death has been ruled as accidental.
Several parents went to Deonarinesingh’s home yesterday with their children to lend support. Deonarinesingh, who had to seek medical treatment for high blood pressure at a private nursing following the incident, said as the mother of a 15-year-old boy she felt Ramjattan’s pain.
“I know the parents are upset. I know it is a great loss and my heart goes out to this mummy especially,” she said.
“I am a mom I will know. I am really, really sorry it had to be like this but I don’t know, maybe accidents happen, maybe the baby turn his head in a spur of the moment. I don’t know how to explain this situation, I am very sorry, sorry about what happen to this baby because I love this little baby.”
An emotional Deonarinesingh, who is called Auntie Sue by parents, said she and her workers were taking care of five other children between the ages of three months and three years on that day. She recalled that Kristiano was “perfectly fine” and in a “good position” when she left him sleeping on the bed around 1.30 pm. Deonarinesingh said the baby was always within her eyesight.
“He small so I placed him in front my eye where we can see him constantly.”
When Ramjattan came she took a photo of the baby before bending over to pick him up.
“Her back was turned to me. From where I see she bend over all of a sudden she say ‘Oh my God come and see what happen here. You come and see what happen’ and she run out the day care.
“My assumption to this was probably something walking on the baby or something bite the baby because remember I take care of this baby, I check this baby before we started to make bottles for the rest of them.”
Deonarinesingh said she then went to the baby.
“I was like stinky pinky wake up and playing with his foot and realise no response from baby.” She said she then began to panic. Deonarinesingh said she turned the baby over and was checking for a pulse. On the directions of the paramedics via phone, she began performing CPR on Kristiano.
“While I was doing this I was getting something from the baby. Every time I give a breath I was getting something like a hiccup from the baby.”
Denying the baby was stiff and cold when his mother arrived, she said she would usually put babies to sleep on their tummy.
“I will not put a baby flat on the face to sleep,” said Deonarinesingh who added: “He (Kristiano) has a tendency to turn his head to suit himself that is why I check him all the time and make sure I fix his head all the time. To be honest I don’t know. I honestly cannot explain what happened.”
Deonarinesingh, who also lives with her common-law husband Riaz Ali, said she would only continue to run the daycare if the parents were still comfortable leaving their children with her. She received support from all the parents at her home.
Parent Sunita Dhanessar said she had been leaving her boys, aged ten and nine, at the daycare for the past ten years. She said Deonarinesingh did a good job and she had no problem with her.
Little Kristiano will be buried under Muslim rites following a brief service at his grandparents’home at Perry Young Road, Indian Walk, Moruga, at about 1 pm today.