A Catholic youth in Myanmar on May 25 died due to lightning.
Peter Garlay who was an active Catholic youth in the parish of Kanazogone of the Diocese of Pathein in the township of Wakema located in the Ayeyarwaddy Region of Myanmar was struck by lightning at 5 in the afternoon.
The neighbor’s cousin’s sister of Garlay Nant Mary Sie Shint said, “When Mahn Htun Kyaing who was Garlay’s father, Mahn Kyaw Kyaw, Phoe Thout Kyar, and Garlay were working in the field with hoes, it was raining cat and dog. For this reason, Kyaing and Kyaw took a rest in the tent near to them and waited for the rain to stop. At that time, they call out Garlay and Kyar to refuge in the tent as they did.”
Garlay who went on his work replied to his father, “I will come after I finish this work.”
Kyar and Garlay worked only a few yards from each other. Kyaw’s face was struck on the surface only whereas Garlay was hit right on his shoulders and immediately fell to the ground. And he died on the spot. But no one knew that he did not breathe at that time, Mary told RVA News.
His father Kyaing came out of his tent and cried out for help from his neighbors. When people around his area quickly run to him and touched the dead body, they noticed that the body was still warm. Then, they brought it home and contacted the group of social workers in the Wakema town, according to Nant Sie Shint.
The social workers came by ambulance and brought the lifeless body to the public hospital in the town for medical proof.
“The body was laid at the hospital overnight and operated on. The next morning it was brought back home,” informed Mary.
She continues to say, “Garlay put his motorbike key on his neck and dug soil with a hoe in his hands when the lightning struck him.”
Peter Garlay died at the age of 25. He was a good youth. His hobby was playing soccer.
“We so sad to lose Garlay,” said his cousin’s sister Nant Sie Shint.
“His father Kyaing is in deep grief and sorrow,” she regretted. According to Mary, Garlay’s mother died of cancer, and it has been over one year already.
In the local news, the dead person was misunderstood that he was an official of the current regime in his village. In this regard, Mary Sie Shint reminded social media users not to spread fake news about Garlay’s death because the content was wrongly uploaded by local media as a political concern.
“May I request you all not to share any fake news about this event which was nothing concerned with a political issue.”
The funeral service was held on May 26 in the morning.
Garlay lived in the village of Kanazogone, which is currently the parish center, consisting of 600 households with a Catholic majority. - Jimmy Saw Ei Taw/RVA Karen Pwo
Radio Veritas Asia (RVA), a media platform of the Catholic Church, aims to share Christ. RVA started in 1969 as a continental Catholic radio station to serve Asian countries in their respective local language, thus earning the tag “the Voice of Asian Christianity.” Responding to the emerging context, RVA embraced media platforms to connect with the global Asian audience via its 21 language websites and various social media platforms.
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