Stella Maris honours Little Gabriel with Vigil

Today, Stella Maris School held a candlelight vigil to honour little Gabriel Orellano, an autistic student who tragically lost his life after wandering off campus.

As we have reported before, little Gabriel drowned in the sea near the hangar area in Belize City after leaving the school grounds. The vigil was organised to provide a space for students and parents to grieve together, with a call for people across the country to wear blue in honour of Gabriel’s life and autism awareness.

A sanitation worker, David Henkins, told News 5 he recalled seeing Gabriel running down Freetown Road, stating, “We mih want stop ah you know, because we know dah something wrong.” However, he explained that he didn’t stop him because he believed two individuals just behind little Gabriel were likely the child’s family members. Henkis later learnt of Gabriel’s tragic death, and said “that play in my mind whole day, all day, because i just mih want the Father just touch we fih mek we could go stop that the lee young bwai. We cried and all.”