PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (Trinidad Express) – Biche resident Stacy Sealey said her daughter, Tenelle Sealey, a 16-year-old Form Three pupil of Biche High School, always loved fruits, especially watermelon.

Little did she know when she was enjoying and devouring a second slice of watermelon on Monday evening after school that she would “choke and die”.

Yesterday, the senior Sealey was being comforted by a steady stream of relatives, neighbours, children and friends who popped by to offer condolences to the bereaved family.

Among those present were Tenelle’s grandmother, Gloria Peters, and siblings Nevada, Nevara and Wendell Sealey, who is also a pupil of Biche High School.

Her stepfather Navin Christopher had gone to look after the autopsy.

Plum Mitan Presbyterian Primary School principal Sooknanan also offered words of consolation to the grieving mother.

Earlier on, Biche High School principal Rajesh Ram and the staff had commiserated with the family.

Residents in the picturesque, tranquil community are still struggling to come to terms with the death of the young and promising child.

Asked about how Tenelle, whom she fondly called “Nelly” or “Ponche A Creme”, passed on, Sealey said: “She went to school and she came home and ate dasheen bush mixed with salt fish and rice. When she ate the watermelon, she started to carry on like she was vomiting. The little children told me she was frothing. I took her to the Biche Health Centre. The doctors and nurses really tried, but she died.

“They had her in a small room. When the doctors told me, she had already died. It was around 5:00 pm. She was always healthy, she had no allergies,” she added.

“She always loved fruits. We never had to buy watermelon, people would give us. We would plant watermelons, too. She would scoop out the watermelon, she never liked slices.”

Asked if she had an intuition her daughter would die tragically, she said: “No, it is sad. It is unfortunate. It is a surprise. We would talk about death, but not like that. It was a long time ago when we spoke about death, but she always said there must be no crying…cook food and let people come and laugh and talk.”

Sealey said her daughter, an avid reader, cherished ambitions of becoming an English teacher.

“She would always say ‘Mummy, I want to be an English teacher’. She was also very athletic. She loved sports, she liked to run. She and her brother Wendell were very popular, although they never wanted to be. She was also a very helpful child,” said the mother.

Sealey said her favourite memory of her daughter was going shopping in Sangre Grande on Christmas Eve.

“We would always go there. It was fast becoming a family tradition. The children would purchase their Christmas presents and whatever they wanted. We had so much fun,” she said. 

Grandmother Peters said during Carnival celebrations she slept over at her home in Sangre Grande.

“I did not think it would be the last time I would be spending with her,” she said.

Several farmers and residents said they were “saddened” to learn about her death, adding that “she was a very nice child”.

As they made their way home after a hard day’s work, farmers Rishi Sudama, Talim Khan and Heeraman Christopher said they were “still shocked at the news”.

“We know the family. We are planning to go back later and extend our condolences. She was a very nice girl. It is unfortunate,” said Sudama.

Neighbour and cucumber farmer Shafiat Ali said: “I just heard it on the news. It is sad.”

Another neighbour Mahadeo “Jama” Lal said: “It is a young, strong girl. When I heard about I did not feel good about it, I felt sad. She was a young, strong girl. Nobody around here did not feel good about it.”

Although a funeral date has not been set, Sealey said she would like to honour her daughter by having a service at the Seventh-Day Adventist Church and a cremation based on Hindu rites.

Sealey also said she was still awaiting the autopsy report which would provide some closure as to how she had died.