Tonight an air of eerie apprehension continues to haunt Teakettle village after eleven school children experienced a collective fainting spell this morning.
It happened at St. Edmund's RC School Primary school where students say spirit possession is behind it all. Monica Bodden went west to try and find out what happened and why:
Monica Bodden Reporting
Around 9:30 this morning 11 students of St Edmund R.C School in Teakettle Village - had to be rushed to the Western Regional Hospital Emergency Ward.
That is after the 11 of them experienced a sudden dizziness and weakness - that caused some to even faint …
So far, what happened this morning cannot be explained by doctors who attended to the children.
So the cause is still unknown. The students, all from this Std 6 classroom, which is housed in the school's church went to school as normal this morning, but they say when they entered their classroom - a feeling came over them - Most explained it as some sort of demonic sensation.
Julian Reyes - Std 6 Student
"When I went in the class I drop my bag, I went outside with my friend Daniel Trujillo, He said if I didn't feel weird and I told him yes, I felt something kind a weird and he said 'let's sit down in the class' and when we sat down I felt something suspiciously. Some other girls were already ahead of me in the class and I sat down, I start to see doubles and my head start to hurt and I felt dizzy, my head was spinning. My teacher said 'let's go to the office' and she had to back me to the office. She ask me to go home and I told her that I couldn't walk and so she said that she will call some of my school mate to help me home walking. But I couldn't, I was the first one to pass out."
11 year old Julian Reyes told us he couldn't move his entire body and had to be lifted and placed into a vehicle to be taken home. That was when he father rushed him to the hospital.
Edwin Reyes - Julian's Father
"One of our cousin brought Julian home in a pickup, I was working with a land mower and she call me and told me saying that Julian was feeling bad. Quickly I responded to him and took him out of the truck and took him inside the house. I ask him what was wrong and he said that he start feeling bad and I ask him if he had breakfast and he said yes he had. He siad that he got a headache as he entered the class. So I told him that he looks weak and that he needs to go to the hospital."
"When we arrived at the hospital, we had to back him out of the vehicle, at that time the teacher pass with three other kids in tyhe car speeding. By that time the three that she brought was already in and so I took Julian in then they ask us to wait outside. While waiting outside the principal called and said that they are bringing 4 more students. After that we start bringing in kids to the emergency ward. Then after they called and say that they were bringing in some more."
"I thought to myself that this couldn't be something normal - it has to be the "evil spirit." The Halloween is around and when that is around the evil is out. It happened in Big Falls, that is suspicious in Teakettle too it could be the same thing."
Reyes is one of the many villagers who believe these children were possessed by evil spirits.
Edwin Reyes - Julian's Father
"They didn't come up with nothing at all, the doctors don't know what to say because it was even shocking to the doctors. 12 kids in one room - the doctors just gave them an injection for the stomach and the headaches. The doctors didn't say anything; they say that they will just have to keep them observation. But with evil spirit - if you never look after them quick enough then it will come back again and probably the teachers don't believe in it and so actually I believe that it will come back again - the evil spirit."
Little Julian was 1 out of the 11 standard 6 students who experienced the sudden bad feeling this morning. The other students had similar stories.
Shaylon Santos - Std 6 Student
"When I went into my class - all I feel was like something just come into me - a strong breeze and when the bell rang my teacher called me to pick-up garbage outside. After we walk under the Mango tree my head just start spin round and around, after that I felt my foot got weak and I just sit-down until my teacher came."
Monica Bodden
"Then you had to be rush to the hospital?"
Shaylon Santos - Std 6 Student
"Yes ma'am."
Monica Bodden
"Now I know people are saying Shaylon that they believe that there were evil spirits in the classroom. Do you believe that?"
Shaylon Santos - Std 6 Student
"Yes ma'am."
Monica Bodden
"You believe something was out of the ordinary this morning?"
Shaylon Santos - Std 6 Student
"Yes."
Monica Bodden
"You felt anything different in the classroom?"
Shaylon Santos - Std 6 Student
"When I walk in I just felt a strong breeze coming into me. Only that I felt then after that we walk outside. After that Julian went first to the office and we saw them carrying him home. Then it happen to my friend Daniel and then to me, my head start spinning and my feet got heavy and so I just sat down under the Mango tree until my teacher came."
Yonisuar Billi - Std 6 student
"When I went to school after the bell rang I went into the class and after that I felt dizzy and I wanted to vomit and after that we went outside and then I fell down and that's when they took me to the hospital."
Monica Bodden
"Did you fainted?"
Yonisuar Billi - Std 6 student
"I didn't faint but there were 4 people that faint - they couldn't walk."
Marleen Hernandez - Std 6 student
"When they put me to sit-down on a chair in front of a fan I just felt like someone came over me and started to choke me and then I couldn't catch my breath then I grab on to one of my teachers and I told her that I can't catch my breath and so they called for me to go to the hospital."
Monica Bodden
"So you think that this morning it was evil forces inside that classroom?"
Marleen Hernadez - Std 6 student
"I believe it because I just felt something just came over me and started to choke me. Like they didn't want me to live. So I say maybe it that."
The children Standard 6 teacher explained to us what happened this morning.
Rosio Trujio - Std 6 teacher
"The first incident happen about quarter to nine when a child came to me. The child was complaining on headache and nausea and feeling dizzy and so I took him in the office and my first reaction was that maybe the child didn't have breakfast. I went to the vice-principal and she said to send him home because something was wrong with him, so we did. Five minutes after another child came and miss there is someone else that has the same thing (dizziness, nausea, headaches) so I went in and took the child out - took him to the office. I was attending to him - wetting his head. They were picking up garbage because its garbage day for students in the morning, so they were picking up garbage and I came out to see what they were doing and then when I went back inside 3 other children were feeling the same. So it was now 5 children. I told the vice principal that something is wrong and we need to take them to the hospital. She decides to take them to the hospital and so we did take 5 of them to the hospital. On arriving at the hospital - the doctors and nurses did what they had to do and about 15 - 20 minutes after 3 other persons came in from the same class. That was already 8, a little after 2 others came in, so it was a total of 11 students that were in the hospital. The doctors examine them and he could find anything wrong with them - they had something all related; the pain and weakness in their foot - they couldn't stand properly and they gave them their dose of injection each and they were put on observation. After observation they were OK and asking for water and something to eat. Their parents were there so they gave then whatever they needed to eat and the doctors told them that they can leave."
So far there is no real explanation as to what may have caused these 11 Standard 6 students of St Edmund RC School to end up at the hospital.
Rosio Trujio - Std 6 teacher
"No explanation, its nothing that I can explain. I haven't seen something like this before but it doesn't frightened me then, I just did what I had to do with my students because I am the teacher and there is a lot of speculations - but its ordinary."
Monica Bodden
"So you don't think that it's evil forces?"
Rosio Trujio - Std 6 teacher
"No evil forces. It's just something like insecticide that they sprayed around the place and made them feel that way."
But these villagers are not buying that idea of something in the air which caused this morning's episode. Their theory is simple, If an insecticide was sprayed, why didn't anyone know of it and why did it affect only one classroom out of the entire school?
Remejio Santolla - Parent
"Well when I got a call this morning, he told me to go see Jose because he needs my help to take him to the hospital. The teacher didn't tell me anything much, so I rush to school on a bike that I borrowed from the neighbor. When I reach at school I saw a lot of people there and I ask what happen and they told me that they took Jose (my son) and I ask why - the teacher told me that she can't explain what has happen because all the children there were getting drunk and stiff."
Monica Bodden
"You saw this?"
Remejio Santolla - Parent
"Yes I saw this."
Monica Bodden
"What you saw?"
Remejio Santolla - ParentRemejio Santolla - Parent
"When they were taking out a little boy - he was stiff and the teacher was fanning his face for his to get breeze. They ask me to take him to the hospital. When I reach there I saw a lot of children there. All the children were crying and I ask Jose what has happen but he didn't answered me, he told me that he don't know, he said that he have a headache and his stomach was upset. I ask him what has he eaten and he said nothing. I ask him if he smelled something and he said no, we were not doing anything. We just come inside the school and we sat down. They were crying and they told the teacher. They were taken to the principal's office. The teacher also said that she felt the pain inside the class and she told the children to come out but they couldn't."
Monica Bodden
"You think that it was an evil spirit in that classroom this morning?"
Remejio Santolla - ParentRemejio Santolla - Parent
"Yes I think it was an evil spirit. I say that we need to pray for the children for this bad spirit to leave the children because all of them were crying. I told them to stop crying, we are going to pray right now."
Monica Bodden
"You are a pastor I understand?"
Remejio Santolla - ParentRemejio Santolla - Parent
"I am a pastor and I start to pay with all the children. I hug Jose and I said Jose 'trust in God' this is a bad spirit and I know that God is going to give you liberty right now and I start to rebuke the spirit that it was disturbing the children's mind."
Monica Bodden
"So you think that classroom was possessed? It had a bad spirit?"
Remejio Santolla - ParentRemejio Santolla - Parent
"I believe that because nothing smell if they had thrown poison."
All 11 children were released from the hospital - and the parents want the village chairman to get a classroom for the students so that their class is no longer in the church.
In the meantime, school is expected to resume as normal on Monday.
