Miracle Baby starts big school

A healthy, vibrant and timid 11-year-old, Brandon was successful in the 2005 Secondary Entrance Assessment (SEA) exams at the Malabar RC School, Arima, and began his secondary education at the Hillview College in Tunapuna on Monday.

The first time he made the front page of Newsday on June 25, 1994, Brandon was seven months old and his legs were hanging in slings. He miraculously escaped death when a jeep ploughed into his mother, Keeran Toorie, 30, and her cousins Shamilla and Indira Ramdass, who were taking baby Brandon for a walk along Blanchisseuse Road, Verdant Ville, on June 24, 1994.

The jeep’s impact flung Brandon from his mother’s arms, 30 feet away into some bushes. Keeran and Shamilla died at hospital from their injuries. Brandon and Indira were warded at hospital, where Brandon, who suffered fractured legs, spent several weeks.

Brandon began pre-school in Arima at three and a half years, when he began living with his aunt, Vedya, his mother’s sister, and her husband Chanan Mahabir in Arima. They had joked with Keeran prior to the accident that they would have taken Brandon, to which she had them promise "to take good care of him."

Living the reality of that joke was a challenge, as seeing Brandon grow up was a reminder of his mother and the tragic loss of her life. The simple act of looking at photos of her and baby Brandon brings tears to their eyes.

When Newsday spoke with Brandon yesterday at his Verdant Ville home in Arima, he was still as chubby as a baby with very little changes to his physical features. He has no recollection of the accident or of his mother. He grew up calling his grandparents, Boysie and Say Ramdeen, who still live at Blanchisseuse, "Mom and dad." He visits them on weekends, as well as his father Steven Toorie, who lives close by.

Brandon said he was the youngest child in his SEA class and maintained a B-average throughout his years at the primary school. He said he wanted to pass for Hillview because he had heard it was a good school. He described his first week at school as "good."

He loves playing on the computer and reading. These days he is reading the latest Harry Potter book, having already read the others in the series. Brandon says he loves science and wanted to be a scientist, but on second thought, would aim to become a lawyer, "because they make lots of money and everybody needs a lawyer these days." He will also consider any job that earns lots of money. In the interim he will concentrate on getting the education in pursuit of the dream, and making friends at school.

A man was charged for manslaughter after investigations into the accident, but he was discharged last year in the High Court.