Junior does smart thing to run, run, run

by Viclene Matthews 11.APR.08

“Run Junior, Run!”

While holding an intravenous bag and trying to conceal his exposed buttocks, Junior Smart did as instructed by his mother, and ran as fast as he could to avoid getting killed in a threatened bomb explosion.{{more}}

Nurissa Smart said she was scared to death when she looked ahead of her and there was no one in sight, and behind her, was her 8-year-old son, with “blood running back into the drip”.

The mother of five said on March 6, 2008, her youngest child was scheduled to have surgery at the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital to remove his tonsils. She said while walking around the health facility prior to her son’s surgery, she was told by a police officer to leave the building because of a bomb threat. She immediately ran back to the operating theatre and told the doctor “Give me my son”.

On that fateful Thursday, five weeks ago, patients at the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital were thrown into a state of panic and confusion when someone called the hospital claiming that a bomb was about to go off.

The scene at the hospital was reminiscent of war-torn Baghdad, with patients, doctors and nurses running to and fro, uncertain as to what their next move should be, and with officials from the National Emergency Management Organization (NEMO) and police with their bomb sniffing dogs trying to restore order and create a sense of calm.



This incident caused Junior to be featured in the front page of Searchlight’s edition of March 7, in his surgical garb and intravenous bag in hand running to safety. The picture touched many readers’ hearts, with one person being moved to email from Canada offering to send a gift to the child.

Nurissa, a San Souci resident described the event as the “most frightening day in my life.” She said that she had a headache for over 3 weeks, because of the experience.

The shy and smiling Junior told Searchlight that he was frightened because “Me know wey bomb could do,” and he didn’t want to die. He said he was scared to return to the hospital because he thought it could blow up with him in it.

Nurissa said the surgery to remove her son’s inflamed tonsils had to be resechuled for the following week. She said when he came home from the hospital, Junior didn’t want to eat, and he got nightmares for a number of weeks. “When I blow out the candle at nights, he would start sweating and pull the sheet over his head.”

Nurissa said the caller to the hospital “is a murderer”, as she could have taken in with a heart attack or developed high blood pressure, because of what she went through on that day.