Shooting victim Colin Lord, 29, has died unexpectedly at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital, a month after being shot in the head while standing outside on his verandah in the St. Martin area of Lake Independence.
Police say that on Friday, July 16, at around 1:00 a.m., Lord, a delivery man/collector for the family business, succumbed to his injuries.
We say “unexpected,” because since the shooting, Lord reportedly was on the road to recovery. As a matter of fact, doctors had spoken about his condition and their prognosis seemed to indicate that he was improving. The doctors, however, had given no guarantees.
This evening we visited his sad family who described Lord as a quiet and respectful young man. We spoke to a sister who wished to remain anonymous. According to her, Colin’s last words were, “Life goes on.…”
According to police reports, Lord and a friend, Raymond Andrews, were both shot on June 18, 2010, whilst socializing at Lord’s residence.
Initial investigations revealed that whilst the victims were socializing, they were approached by two unknown gunmen, one of whom was armed with a 9mm pistol. The gunman fired several shots. Andrews was shot in the upper leg, while Lord was shot in the head.
On the night of the shooting, Lord was transported to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital, where doctors performed a life-saving surgery. But due to his deteriorating condition, the family felt the need to transfer him elsewhere.
And so they did. On June 22, he was transferred to the Belize Health Care Partners Limited. There, he underwent surgery, and doctors worked to reduce brain swelling.
As the days went by, Lord was showing some improvement and on July 6, he was released and taken to a sister’s home, where he continued to recover for two weeks.
But although Lord was seemingly on the road to recovery, he was re-admitted to the KHMH on Friday, July 16.
Today, the family not only has bills to pay, but now has to cope with the pain of losing a beloved family member, who they thought would soon be on his feet, joyous and joking, as he always was.
According to a KHMH doctor, Lord was suffering from hepatitis, which might have been contracted from a blood transfusion.
Also, he had renal failure and an infection in the lungs; and on several occasions, the breathing mask had to be changed because he was having difficulty breathing, said the family.
Lord is the second shooting victim for this month to have died. On Thursday July 8, 2010, shooting victim Ernesto Perez also succumbed to gunshot injuries 10 days after admission at the KHMH.
And like the Lord family, the Perez family was hopeful that Perez would have survived.
Amandala sends its sincere condolences to the family of Colin Lord.