by Charles Gladden

LADYVILLE, Belize District, Wed. Aug. 23, 2023

This week, Amandala got the chance to have a one-on-one conversation with Lance Corporal Emil Mendez, a paralyzed soldier of the Belize Defence Force serving in the military’s medical unit as an orthopedist.

Born and raised in the western part of the country in Benque Viejo Town and in the neighboring village of Succotz before his life-changing injury, Mendez described his then youthful self as someone always on the move and who was always active in various religious groups and as a volunteer firefighter.

At the age of 18, Mendez joined the military, and two years later, in 2014, while serving his country, he was selected to participate in an orthopedic technician training program in Guyana. However, three months after arriving in that country, Mendez was a victim of an armed robbery in which he was shot four times, with one of the bullets hitting his spinal cord, and leaving him paralyzed.

Mendez told Amandala that at the moment he was wounded, because of his training in the medical field, he already knew that it would be a life-changing situation for him.

“As a paramedic, the instant that I got shot, I knew I was going to be paralyzed for the rest of my life. I knew it because that’s the field that I’m studying, orthopedic, and I knew. I slapped myself and said I won’t [let] this bring me down, it already happened, I can’t turn back the time, and I cannot do anything but push forward. It was hard to accept, that was the most difficult – the new reality, but with time I had to accept it,” he said.

Ten years have passed since his injury, and Mendez is thankful that the Belize Defence Force allowed him to return and serve the country. Despite his circumstances, some days are easy for him in comparison to others.

“Where I work is wheelchair-accessible, so this makes it easy for me. The struggle that I face is traveling, because I am from Benque Viejo and to travel from Benque Viejo to Ladyville is kind of hard. There are some days that there is no transportation. I travel mostly with my coworkers. I work Monday to Friday, and on Friday I go home; but sometimes nobody is going home that weekend, so I have to find my way,” he expressed.

“… I wish there was a public service transportation that I could just take the bus and go home. Unfortunately, the bus company, here in Belize, doesn’t offer this type of comfort to us,” he said.

Despite being paralyzed, Mendez used that setback as motivation to continue living life to the fullest, as if he had functioning legs. He goes horseback riding at a friend’s ranch, has climbed Xunantunich with his bare hands, and in 2017 he participated in the annual La Ruta Maya canoe race that is held in March.

At 28 years old and paralyzed, Mendez is still accomplishing lifetime goals, as he recently completed his studies at Sacred Heart Junior College, and additionally, has completed his course in Guyana.

Mendez is pleading for wheelchair accessibility to be available in more locations for himself and for others who share the same fate that he does.

“I wish more buildings are wheelchair accessible, everything, from the parking lot, bathrooms, just to get into the buildings they are slowly doing it, but not all the buildings have that accessibility—and most of all, transportation. I don’t know how the government or the private sector can get buses that can be wheelchair accessible,” he said.