The heartbroken mother of a 13-year-old boy who drowned while playing hooky in New York City has chastised the school for failing to warn her that he had been absent for hours.
Samantha Singh, a mother of four, is left wondering if Middle School 137 could have prevented the terrible tragedy after the accident on Friday.
Singh, 43, said the school waited until 7 p.m. to tell her that his son, Daniel Persaud, had been missing since 10 a.m.
Daniel and Ryan Wong, also 13, drowned after their surfboard got caught in a rip current at Jamaica Bay around 11.40 a.m. The surfboard was pulled 30-feet into a deep channel.
The youngsters were rescued and taken to an area hospital but were declared dead shortly after they arrived.
‘They [school] did not call me to let me know he was not in class until hours later,’ the heartbroken mother told The New York Post. ‘They need to inform the parents right away, especially a middle school.
‘We don’t receive a call until 7 p.m. So, if we could have received a call earlier, I have a track on his phone.’
The Queens boys were among a group of five friends who decided to skip school and go to the beach in Queens to celebrate the start of summer, according to an uncle of one of the boys who spoke to the New York Daily News.
Witness Isri Persaud said the other teenagers raced up the beach shouting for rescue.
Before exiting the water, the adolescents were seen swinging their arms frantically, according to Persaud.
To find the lads, the FDNY sent nine divers, two helicopters, and boats into the water.
Around 12.35 p.m., they retrieved the first boy from the sea. After 40 minutes, the second boy was rescued. They were sent to Jamaica Hospital, where they were pronounced dead shortly after.
The school, according to Singh, should have notified her that Daniel had gone missing.
‘I have four children,’ she said to the Post. ‘In this day and age, you must always know where they are.’ I was under the impression that he was at school. I didn’t monitor him for more than a couple of hours.’
‘They would have contacted if either of my girls left school at Richmond Hill, where my two oldest daughters went…’ ‘As soon as possible!’ she added.
Singh also told the outlet she questioned why those who saw the children by themselves during a school day did not intervene and attempted to call a parent or adult.
‘The bus that took them, the driver, why didn’t they notice little kids alone?’ she asked.
The distraught woman took to Facebook on Saturday to write a loving tribute to her son.
‘ … I am lost for words and my soul is bleeding and our hearts are shattered … our Daniel went away today … oh god I don’t know how we will live past today or any other day,’ Singh wrote.
… you were only 13 years old and went out to a beach to have fun and it carried you away from us.’
Daniel’s wake will be on Tuesday, followed by a funeral on Wednesday.
Persaud’s Uncle, Jerry, told the Daily News that the family was ‘shocked’ the young student had skipped school.
‘It’s just shocking because he doesn’t go out much,’ Jerry told the outlet. ‘But he suddenly went out and this happened. It would be just school and home for him.’
‘Everyone is in shock now. The family is devastated.’
Family friend Indra Bisnauth also told the Daily News: ‘They had no idea he left out of school.’
‘It’s a tragedy. It’s so sad. The child is so quiet, you’d never know he’d do this. They just go for fun. I was so shocked to hear that happened.’
The 13-year-old reportedly liked building his own computers and enjoyed technology.
Wong’s mother, Gloria Wong, wrote on Facebook: ‘Rest In Peace little Ryan I love you. You will forever live in our hearts.’
The portion of the beach they were at was unguarded and not all of the kids knew how to swim, a police source told the New York Post.
‘This happens all the time … they walked in the water about one to two feet deep, then the channel suddenly drops six to 10 feet deep, and some of these kids could not swim,’ the police source told the Post.