Moneague College noxious fumes survivor forever changed

Ainsworth Morris, Staff Reporter

Rayon Reid, a survivor of the Moneague College septic tank noxious fumes incident, says he will be forever changed by the ordeal.

Reid says he's happy to be alive but is deeply saddened by the death of his good friends and colleagues Joslyn Henry and Kirk Kerr.

Henry, 56, of Rivoli in Spanish Town, St Catherine and Kerr, 46, of Shelter Rock, also in Spanish Town, died as a result of noxious fumes coming from a septic tank they were cleaning at the college.

A third victim, Beresford Gordon, of a Church Pen Road address in Spanish Town, died this morning at the St Ann's Bay Regional Hospital after being admitted in an unconscious state yesterday.

Reid, who had also gone inside the septic tank, said it was devastating to witness the deaths.

Reid said he climbed to the tank's opening and was assisted by co-workers who were also at the site.

He noted that Henry was trembling in distress when he saw him inside the tank.

“My friend look like when him drop, him lick him head on one ah di wall dem inside cause when me guh dung in deh and see him, him jus ah tremble [and] ah shake like when you tek piece ah board and lick ah dog and him jus deh deh,” Reid said.

“Mi nuh know what kind of gas, but it was ah wicked, wicked gas,” he added.

Reid said he has mixed feelings about being the lone survivor. 

“Mi nuh know. Mi feel good and mi nuh feel good, because ah one a mi best friend,” he said.

Reid said he, Kerr and Henry were friends before they started working together at Central Cesspool in 2016.

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