Kimberley - “RIP my beautiful soul. Mommy will always love you. My beautiful princess Nayla, I will never forget you.”
This was the message posted on Facebook by the mother of a young Kimberley girl who died after suffering an asthma attack while sitting in her Grade 5 classroom.
Mass hysteria erupted at Endeavor Primary School on Friday morning after 11-year-old Nayla Adams was declared dead.
Nayla’s great-grandfather, Percy Benjamin, who lives in a house directly across from the school, told the DFA on Sunday that he noticed a commotion at the school on Friday morning but at first thought nothing of it.
“I arrived home and noticed a lot of people gathering at the fence. I wondered what was happening, as I noticed two ambulances inside the school premises. I went closer and someone said that there was a little girl who was struggling to breathe. My daughter then came towards me and screamed ‘she’s gone, can’t they do anything more for her?’
“Chaos erupted as teachers, community members and fellow pupils, who all came closer to see Nayla, started screaming and crying at once.
“It was mass mass hysteria, with two teachers fainting as a result of shock following her death. They had to receive medical treatment,” Benjamin said.
He added that Nayla was a “sweet child” who was very popular among her peers.
She had apparently been taking medication for asthma.
Nayla’s mother, Robyn Chantell Adams, was on Sunday still too shocked to speak about the incident.
The post was met with numerous messages of condolences and support, including the following post by Candice Ontong: “Robyn I can’t imagine how you must be feeling if I’m feeling this way now, lost for words, heartbroken, hurt, trying to understand why her? Why now? She’s still so young... but only God knows and only God has the answers.
“I pray that you find comfort, healing and understanding and know that God will never leave you nor forsake you... it’s never easy losing a child and no one is prepared for it... God be with you in this difficult time... RIP Nayla! You will always be in my heart. I will never forget the looks you always gave and your shy smile... love you always Angel.”
The Northern Cape Department of Education confirmed that it was “mourning the untimely death of a Grade 5 pupil at Endeavour Primary School in Kimberley”.
“Her death came as a real shock, after she died of natural causes on Friday morning in the classroom,” department spokesperson, Geoffrey van der Merwe, said on Sunday.