Leslie Vernon, 40, a fisherman and tour guide operator of Placencia, bled to death when he sustained a large cut wound on the back of his right leg, which caused a main artery to be ruptured. The incident occurred about 12:30 yesterday afternoon, Wednesday, in a boat repair yard on the banks of the lagoon in Placencia. His brother, who saw what had happened, rushed him in a boat across the lagoon to Malacate Beach in an effort to get him medical attention at the Independence Polyclinic, but the effort was in vain.

Vernon died in the boat before they reached Malacate Beach on the other side of the lagoon. His body was taken to the Dangriga Hospital, where it underwent a postmortem. Doctors declared that he bled to death.

Vernon and his father had been repairing a fiberglass boat at about 12:30 yesterday afternoon when the grinder he was using hit a bump on the boat, causing him to lose control of it, and it caused a large cut behind his leg, which began to bleed heavily.

Mary Toy, a close friend of the family, told Amandala that when they called the Placencia Polyclinic, they were told that the doctor was not in, but that the nurse would try to contact him. They became fearful, however, that Leslie would die in their care because of the delay, and his brother quickly applied a tourniquet to the wound to stop the bleeding, but Vernon died before they could have gotten him critical medical treatment.

Leslie Vernon was well-known on the peninsula, and will be missed.