A POST MORTEM (PM) performed on Wednesday, on the body of former University of Guyana valedictorian, Michael George, 31, has given the cause of death as drowning.

Blunt force trauma was also reported, Regional Commander, Errol Watts had said, but he noted that it was explained by the pathologist that it did not point to foul play.

Speaking with the Guyana Chronicle, on Wednesday, Watts said the PM was performed by government pathologist, Nehaul Singh, at the Ezekiel Funeral Home, in the presence of George’s family member and the police.
The body was subsequently handed over to the family. Watts said a report will be prepared and sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), seeking advice on whether an inquest may be needed.
“The PM was done and there’s nothing to be alarmed about, it’s not a murder. It didn’t say that he died from any injury from external sources, he just died from drowning. We are going to do a report, because a life has been lost, and we have to give account for it, so we will do a report for legal advice,” Watts explained.
On the issue of the blunt force trauma, Watts noted that while he cannot explain all the medical technicality of the situation, Singh had explained, at length to the family and the police, that the trauma was not from external forces and was not an indication of foul play.

“That does not lead to the offence of murder, or anything like that. The doctor explained what he meant to the family members already, it doesn’t mean that it was a homicide. The doctor explained to the family and to us that it’s not a case of murder,” Watts noted.

George, a father of two from La Jalousie, West Coast Demerara (WCD), drowned between 16:00 hours and 17:00 hours last Sunday, during a pre-birthday hang at the “Parika Back”. George, according to reports, is said to have walked into the water and went under in a deep end.

He was at the time hanging out with three other friends. The friends are said to have tried to search for him after he went under but did not find him until sometime later, by which time it was too late to save him.

However George’s family has since said that they do not believe that accounts of what transpired are adding up. Calls made to the family, on Wednesday, for a comment on the PM, proved futile.

Condolences have since been pouring in on social media as persons mourned George’s passing. He was remembered as a bright young mind. George was described as an academic trailblazer, graduating as valedictorian of the West Demerara Secondary School class of 2005, before going on to graduate as valedictorian for the UG class of 2010, where he pursued a Bachelor’s Degree in Chemistry. He graduated with distinction and earned the President’s Medal.

George also has a PhD in Biochemistry Engineering from the University of Alberta and was working as a lecturer at the Texila American University and also taught fifth and Sixth Form classes at the Saraswati Vidya Niketan School.

“He was an awesome person, a very kind hearted, diligent, compassionate person. He was always willing to help. Since he returned from Canada he would always be trying to help someone in whatever way. He’s a humble young man,” George’s brother, Christopher George, had conveyed in an earlier interview.
George is scheduled to be laid to rest on Friday.