A mother’s grief has turned into a restless search for answers, after what began as an ordinary afternoon ended in an unimaginable loss.
Vani McIndoe said the events of March 27 at their Nauluvatu home in Suva continue to replay in her mind – small, ordinary details now sharpened into painful clarity.
Her daughters, Siteri, 9, and Esther Rauqe, 14, were at home together.
Esther stood in the kitchen peeling potatoes with a bread knife when she shared a piece of joyful news that their mother had bought Siteri a new dress for Palm Sunday.
What followed, Ms McIndoe said, was a moment of excitement that turned catastrophic in an instant.
Siteri, overcome with happiness, rushed towards her sister.
In that split second, neither girl accounted for the knife still in Esther’s hand.
The collision was sudden. The blade struck, and what should have been laughter became panic.
Despite the injury, Siteri remained conscious as she was rushed to the Samabula Health Centre. Her mother remembers her daughter speaking – calm, reassuring, almost as if trying to comfort those around her.
“She told me, ‘Mummy, I’m going to be fine, and I will wear my dress for Palm Sunday,’” Ms McIndoe recalled.
“And I told her, ‘Yes, luvequ, you will be okay.’”
At the health centre, Ms McIndoe said they were reassured the wound was minor. But soon after, Siteri was transferred to the Colonial War Memorial Hospital in Suva for further treatment.
That reassurance now haunts the family.
By 7pm, Siteri was taken into surgery. Fifteen minutes later, Ms McIndoe said her world collapsed.
“They told us my little girl didn’t make it.”
The official cause of death was listed as internal abdominal haemorrhage – but for Ms McIndoe, that explanation has only deepened her questions.
She claims the extent of the surgical procedure was never clearly explained to her.
“They opened her from her chest down.
“When I asked why, they didn’t give me a straight answer.”
Instead of preparing for Palm Sunday, the family was left grappling with grief – and uncertainty.
Ms McIndoe said police have informed her that investigations into the incident are closed, but she feels critical questions remain unanswered.
Why was the injury first described as minor? What exactly happened during surgery? Could anything have been done differently?
Requests for clarification sent to health authorities and police have remained unanswered.
