By JUAN McCARTNEY, Guardian Senior Writer, juan@nasguard.com

The Flamingo Gardens community is still in shock today following the sudden death of a wheelchair-bound 12-year-old boy at the Gerald Cash Primary School yesterday afternoon.

When reporters arrived on the scene, the father of special education student Tracey McDonald was in tears and had to be physically supported, as he watched his son's small body being carried away by medics. Tracey's grandmother sat in a car wailing.

A short while earlier teachers at the school had called Tracey's father and informed him that he had taken ill and fallen into distress around 12 p.m. When he arrived at the school Tracey was already dead.

It was not the first time that Tracey had taken ill at school. The Ministry of Education, in a statement released yesterday, said that earlier in the week, teachers "were concerned that Tracey was not doing well and had advised his grandmother to take him to the doctor."

"The student was taken to the doctor by his grandmother on Tuesday. He returned to school on Thursday," the statement said. "Teachers again expressed concern for Tracey and monitored him throughout the day. They had inquired of the grandmother whether he was fit to attend school."

The statement said that around noon, Tracey complained of a "pain in his head."

"Teachers tried to make him comfortable. Shortly thereafter, he went into distress and collapsed. Paramedics arrived on the scene and attended to Tracey. He was pronounced dead at the scene," the statement said.

The statement said the ministry is "deeply troubled" by Tracey's death.

Parents arrived early at the campus to pick up their children yesterday. One mother told The Guardian that Tracey always had a smile on his face as he sat by the front gate in the afternoons and waved at passers by.

Acting Director of Education Lionel Sands arrived on the scene to support the staff and students of the school.

Two teachers are assigned to the special needs class.

"If you work with them you would know what their feelings are," Sands told reporters. "I am sure they know that something is amiss.

"They have been transferred from that classroom to another class while the police and all the other persons work with those particular students."

The MOE also dispatched grief counselors to the school to assist the staff and students with the handling of the situation.

Sands said: "They must be treated in such a way that we ensure that they receive the kind of counseling when you go through this kind of experience."