A 6-year-old Thai boy remains comatose after he was abandoned for five hours in the backseat of the cab of an Ayutthaya school’s pickup truck on Monday. The truck is used to pick up students and take them to school.
First grader Chanachai Kongpol, nicknamed “Gaga,” was found unconscious at midday in the truck, five hours after the school driver picked him up that morning. The boy was immediately sent to a local hospital in Ayutthaya, a province north of Bangkok, reported Khaosod.
Boonlerd Wattakee, 57, the driver for Wat Choeng Len School, who has been at the job for four years, said he normally inspects and cleans the truck after he drops off the children, but on Monday, it was about to rain so he just went home to rest.
Boonlerd contacted Gaga’s parents while the boy was placed on a respirator. He apologized to the parents and said he felt guilty for his negligent act.
Today, Gaga’s brain is unresponsive due to being deprived of oxygen for hours in the hot truck. Phra Nakhon Sri Ayutthaya Hospital has also broken the news to his parents that the child may not make it and have consulted them about donating his organs, Dr. Suchart Kittipat, the hospital’s director,reported to Bangkok Biz News.
Gaga’s mother, Funta Boon-ngam, 33, said through tears that she was “hoping for a miracle, but it never came” and that the family wants Gaga’s tragedy to be a case example. She doesn’t have ill will against the driver but will seek legal action.
Yesterday, the driver turned himself in to the police. He has been charged with negligence leading to serious injury of others and driving public transportation without a license.
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