Student lauded for coming to aid of sick man on minibus

By Anesta Henry

Bravery is often demonstrated in grand ways, but it was a small act of human kindness that earned Frederick Smith Secondary School student Kerrisha Skeete the praise of a country and a Barbados Bravery Medal. For her “unselfish act of bravery towards a senior citizen while preventing loss of life from a seizure which occurred on public transportation”, she was honoured on Independence Day. This is her story:

Asecondary school student who jumped to the assistance of a man as he fell foaming at the mouth on a Public Service Vehicle (PSV) is being heaped with praise for her unselfish actions.

Frederick Smith Secondary School student Kerrisha Skeete’s swift response to the passenger who appeared to be having a seizure has garnered the praise of fellow schoolmates, her family and school principal.

 Overcome with emotion at the response she has been receiving from the public, Skeete told Barbados TODAY she was just pleased that she was able to help.

“Tuesday morning, I was on my way to school in B21. We stopped at the bus stop to pick up passengers and a gentleman got in. When he got in he was shaking a lot and at first I thought it was normal but then he fell to the floor and started to foam from the mouth.

“I quickly realised that he was having a seizure, so when it was over I put him in a seat on the bus and gave him tissue to clean off his face,” Skeete recalled.

“Afterwards, he wasn’t talking that much and he looked a bit zoned out,” she added.

And while she did her part to help the man in need, the teenager said she was shocked that others did not even look in his direction.

“Nobody really wanted to help him. Everybody walked over him while he was mid-seizure or they sat down and watched him. I was kind of shocked that no one helped him but a nurse and I. All of them were adults. One person almost stepped on him mid-seizure while she was getting out of the bus. I was shocked but I still had to pay attention to him,” Skeete explained, urging others to remember that everybody needs help at some point in their life.

One passenger who was aboard the minibus that morning recounted the incident in a post on social media which was shared. She said she witnessed Skeete run from her seat, urging that the man be turned on his side and asking for a spoon. The passenger said a nurse who was also on the transportation also came to help.

“But you won’t believe it,” she added, “if you see schoolchildren and adults get up and step over him while he was having this seizure. When he came back to himself, she even offered him some napkins to clean up. So I would like to say not all young people are [lost]. Kudos to Kerrisha Skeete. Well done, young lady.”

Skeete said her handling of the situation must be credited to her cosmetology tutor Tahirah Payne who taught her the steps to be taken when someone is having a seizure or other health emergency while in a salon setting or elsewhere.

“She told me that a long time ago, at the beginning of fourth form, and I still remember it to this day. She was telling us just in case. She teaches a lot of things in this class and I look up to her, so I try to remember everything she tells me.

“But I feel good about what I have done. Everywhere I go somebody is clapping for me or telling me that I did good. I was really not expecting all of this to happen after I helped him. I guess it is a good thing,” she said.

The young woman said at home she was taught to help people in need and to always be kind to others, and not to get involved in laughing at or bullying her peers.

Skeete, who will be celebrating her 16th birthday on December 3, is hoping to become a doctor one day. She said she spends most of her spare time searching the Internet, researching medical terms and learning about new diseases.

“I want to help people. My father passed away and the doctors weren’t able to help him. The way I felt when he passed away, I don’t want other children to feel that way. So I want to help everyone I can in every way.”

Skeete took the Barbados TODAY team to meet Payne who said that she teaches all her students first aid basics because one never knew when the unexpected would happen.

“When I saw the post on Facebook and I saw the name I was like ‘oh, my student’. But I know Kerrisha is a thoughtful student and she likes to assist. I came in this morning and she came into the classroom and I said ‘well done, Kerrisha’.

“And she said, ‘Ma’am, it was because of you that I swung into action’. So, to me, it is good that they come in and they listen and they take it on board and it goes with them because she did save a life. So, well done Kerrisha, and thank you for remembering what I taught’,” Payne said, before hugging the young lady as her peers looked in through doors and windows.

Frederick Smith principal Stephen Jackman, who commended Skeete for her brave act during morning assembly, said he was pleased when he read the post circulating on social media. He said the student will be officially recognised for her good deed with a tangible gift during the school’s Independence Day celebrations.

“Our motto here is Covet the Best Gifts. To be able to help somebody is the ultimate sign of coveting the best, of giving of yourself to help somebody else. So, if she has learnt it here and she has learnt it at home, then we are proud of who she is. She will now go to the head of the line as being one of the honourees on Tuesday,” Jackman said.

Her mother Kerry Skeete told Barbados TODAY she was surprised that her daughter, normally “a fly on the wall” and a person who does not like attention, assisted the elderly man on public transportation while surrounded by passengers.

“My daughter Kerrisha is a phenomenal child. She is shy, very humble, a direct loner, she has no friends. She is classified as a weird child because she is not much of a talker because she is not outgoing. The people in the neighbourhood only see her when she goes to school and back home.

“She went through a lot; she lost her dad to gun violence four years ago so it has been me single-handedly raising her, along with her grandmothers on both sides and my father, and other relatives. She says every day she wants to be a doctor and I am hoping that she becomes a doctor one day,” she said.