Instead of celebrating her 6th birthday, a dad will spend the day grieving his daughter's "preventable" death.
|||Durban - Instead of celebrating her sixth birthday on Mandela Day, a heartbroken KwaZulu-Natal father will spend the day grieving his daughter’s “untimely” and “preventable” death after she was electrocuted.
Danielle Tayla Lucas was playing with her friends outside a residential complex in Richards Bay when tragedy struck.
The five-year-old Grade R Arboretum Primary School pupil, who was eagerly looking forward to celebrating her birthday on Thursday, was pronounced dead when she arrived in hospital.
Her devastated father, Arthur Lucas, said the family had always celebrated Danielle’s July 18 birthday together.
“She knew it was also Mandela’s birthday and she would get so excited leading up to the day,” said Lucas. “It used to be such a joyous day for the family, but I think it will now be one of the most difficult days to get through for all of us.”
Recalling events that led to his daughter’s death, Lucas said Danielle had been playing outside Ocean Rest flats with her friends on Saturday afternoon when his son, Tre, alerted him to her cries.
The family went out to investigate. “She was still holding the live cables with both hands,” said Lucas.
A nurse at the complex tried to resuscitate the girl, but she did not respond, prompting the family to take her to hospital.
“The doctor pronounced her dead when we arrived at the hospital,” said Lucas, adding that his wife was inconsolable.
The family’s grief, said Lucas, was further compounded by the fact that the incident could have been prevented had the complex’s body corporate fixed the electricity box the previous day when another child was shocked.
The six-year-old girl survived after her brother, who also received shocks, pulled her her away from the live wire.
The matter was reported, but no action was taken.
“They only fixed it after my little girl passed away,” said Lucas, adding that it was too little too late. “Her death was preventable had they fixed it the day before.”
Police spokeswoman captain Debbie Ferreira confirmed the incident, saying an inquest docket had been opened.
Independent on Saturday