An inquest heard today that a one-year-old drowned during a family fishing trip after being left alone beside a lake for barely one minute.
Melvin Gurung, a “happy young child,” spent the day playing and running about as his parents, grandparents, and other family members caught trout at a prestigious fishery.
When Melvin’s uncle went to use the restroom, he urged the kid to wait outside, but after 60 seconds, the kid had disappeared.
The ‘panicked’ family of Melvin started looking for the child right away, but his former Army father Bikash and healthcare professional mother Menuka were unsuccessful in finding him.
A few minutes later, a passing plainclothes policeman yelled “no, no!” as soon as he noticed Melvin’s red boots in a lake obscured by 4 foot weeds and swiftly hauled him out.
Just 10 days short from his second birthday, the “beautiful” boy passed tragically because it was too late.
After the disaster at Manningford Trout Fishery in Pewsey, Wiltshire, on November 14, a coroner determined that Melvin’s death was an accident.
His corpse was located by DC Richard Barratt of the Wiltshire Police just a few inches from the edge of water that was knee-deep.
The inquest heard that Melvin and four members of his Nepalese family traveled to the farm, where they often went, to fish, from their home in Farnborough, Hampshire.
A worker at the peaceful fishing spot said Melvin was a “happy young child” and spent the day “running about playing.”
Around 4 o’clock, Melvin’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. Gurung, left him playing with a relative, Amrit Gurung, who was referred to as “like an uncle,” while they went fishing at a neighboring lake on the property.
I played with him for a little time, and then we went to the bathroom, Amrit said to the inquiry.
“He was playing outdoors when I took him up and told him to stay there while I went to the bathroom. I will be back soon.”
“I was inside for maybe a minute.”
Nayan, Melvin’s uncle, was sound asleep in the vehicle when Amrit shook him up. I slept off for ten minutes and woke up to Amrit, Nayan testified throughout the inquiry.
“I suppose Melvin got lost, we should go search for him,” he said.
“I was surprised…” I don’t believe I realized the seriousness of the issue at the time; I assumed he was either hiding in the woods or had been abducted.
Nayan said that as they hurried to notify Melvin’s parents, they “started panicking.”
Bikash, the father of Melvin, said that he had just been out fishing at another lake for ten minutes when the alarm went off.
He jumped in his vehicle right away to search the main road for his kid, and when DC Barratt and PC Jeremy Horner arrived minutes later after being on patrol nearby, they joined him in the search.
DC Barratt saw Melvin buried in the water since he was familiar with the region.
He was concealed by the thick reeds and was barely below the surface, according to Bikash, who is now a truck driver, who testified during the court.
He seemed normal to me and was just as gorgeous as he usually was. Take him to a warm location, I suggested to the paramedics.
Melvin was taken to Salisbury District Hospital in Wiltshire after paramedics treated to him in a “frantic situation,” but he was declared dead later that day.
Coroner Ian Singleton of Salisbury Coroner’s Court declared: “I find drowning to be the cause of death.”
Melvin was briefly left unsupervised when visiting the trout fishery with his family in the afternoon.
He was discovered in the water on his back and unconscious.
According to the facts, it is impossible to pinpoint the specific chain of events that resulted in his discovery in the sea.