Dinthill student, 15, dies suddenly
July 7, 2019A ninth grader of Dinthill Technical High School in Linstead died suddenly Friday evening (July 5) after falling ill at his home in Union district, Lluidas Vale, St Catherine.
The demise of 15-year-old fashion enthusiast Damaine Ellis has jolted his community.
His close cousin, Tafari Beale, better known as Chris, who spoke on behalf of the family, told The Beacon: “The whole community is grieving because my cousin is not a trouble maker or a wrongdoer.”
“Damaine was a jovial person who interacted with peers well and played games… He was playing football [moments before he fell ill] – not on the big field; he was playing it at his gate.”
Beale, 23, recalled arriving home at sunset on Friday to find his cousin alone lying on the roadway in front the home they virtually shared.
“I saw him in the middle road lying down and I said to him, ‘bredda, wah happen to yuh?’ He said nothing is wrong with him, but he feels tired and is lying down,” Beale said.
He however sensed that something had gone awry, and so he tried to assist his cousin in getting up and walking to the house.
Beale realized that his cousin could not walk, and so he lifted him, took him inside the house and placed him on a bed.
“He told me he feels like his heart was burning him,” Beale told The Beacon, adding that his cousin requested some water to drink.
Beale stated that, when he quickly fetched the water, he noticed that his cousin seemingly had a seizure. “I took him off the bed, put him flat on the floor, put two pillows under him, and started to give him CPR,” he recalled.
Beale stated that, when it appeared as though Damaine was reviving, he started to wet him with the drinking water he had fetched.
“My cousin started to take some deep breaths,” added Beale.
He called his mother who was next-door and then rushed to get a taxi.
Beale told The Beacon that, while in the taxi heading towards Linstead Public Hospital, he heard his cousin emit a gasping sound. “When we reached where Worthy Park [Sugar] Estate is, I heard when he gave a last breath; that was the last.”
Beale further recounted that, within 20 minutes, he was at Linstead Public Hospital.
“We took my cousin out of the car, rushed him into the hospital on the wheelchair, and then get the porter’s help to put him on the bed. The doctors come around, shine the light in his eye, checked him out and said he is not breathing; he is gone,” Beale said.
Damaine Ellis, on Facebook, dubbed himself ‘Fashion Prince’. It was a moniker he lived up to. 
He further stated that the child’s father, Darren Ellis, who was in the Linstead area during the ordeal, was distraught when he arrived at the hospital.
“Damaine’s father was in the hospital last night hugging him up and wouldn’t leave him. He didn’t reach the hospital in time, but he reached,” Beale added.
He further stated that he does not know of his late cousin having any previous medical condition.
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