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Sleeping woman, 68, brutally stabbed in bedroom

GeneralSleeping woman, 68, brutally stabbed in bedroom
The family of 68-year-old Castula Westby remains in a state of complete shock and disbelief over her attempted murder by an intruder to the home who was armed with a knife, and who used it on her mercilessly.
  
Late news to us this evening from the family is that she has slipped into a coma. Prayers are all they have left, they told us.
  
Her relatives told Amandala that Westby was stabbed eleven times: five times in her left upper chest, three times in the left side of the back of the neck, and three times in her face.  
  
Westby’s tongue was almost severed due to the stab wounds to her face; her jaw had also been cut. She is currently at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital, where her tongue was stitched together, and her other injuries operated on.
  
The intruder left feces on the veranda at the entrance to the back door and took clothing from the clothesline to use as toilet paper.
  
The horrific stabbing occurred at Westby’s home in Southside Belize City at approximately 3:15 a.m. on Sunday, November 27. The house is a two-storey wooden and cement structure, with back and front entrances.
  
Westby’s room is located on the upper flat and her bedroom window is situated at the back veranda, about four feet from the floor of the veranda.
  
Westby had been sleeping in her bedroom when the attacker gained access through her open room window. Westby’s daughter and three children, who were at home during the attack, all reside along with Westby in the upper flat of the house; tenants occupy the lower flat. 
  
The family, who wanted to remain anonymous, told us that there was no theft involved, and no rape attempt, that the assailant simply climbed through the window and brutally assaulted Westby with the knife, whose blade is about four inches long and an inch and a half in width.
  
The attacker was fair-skinned and was wearing a white shirt and short pants. The attacker put a pillow over Westby’s face and remained on top of her during the entire attack; he said nothing, only removing the pillow to stab her repeatedly in the face.
  
Westby’s moans alerted her family that something terrible was happening in her room. 
  
The attacker did not attempt to go into other parts of the house. He fled through the same window he had entered, forgetting his knife on Westby’s pillow. He was not seen by the other family members.
  
The sight of their mother and grandmother laying face down in the pillow, in a pool of her own blood was the most traumatic experience for this family. 
  
Westby’s son, who lives in the neighbourhood, rushed to the scene and took his mother from her bed, carrying her down the stairs and into his vehicle, then to the hospital. During her journey to the hospital, Westby remained conscious, praying and commenting on the numbness of her limbs.
  
Westby is also a diabetic and has been for several years. The family had told us earlier today that the hospital explained to them that she was stable and hospital officials had signed her release papers this morning.
  
This was not an option, the family told us, since Westby, by that time, was unable to speak and could not even sit up.
  
We spoke to the family later this afternoon, and they told us that Westby’s brother, who is a doctor from Dangriga, called the hospital and told the doctors that he was on his way there and that he wished for his sister to remain in their care.
  
Two family members also told us that at the time when they were supposed to have taken their mother home, that her condition got worse; they have since learned that she had fluid in her lungs and her face was beginning to swell.
  
The fact that Westby has since slipped into a coma has them stunned, because they had hoped that she would pull through her terrible ordeal.
  
The family told us that the doctors have all given Westby the best of care. She is only about 5 feet 2 inches tall, and weighs about 110 pounds. She is still recovering from gall stone removal surgery performed earlier this year.
  
Westby is not only an elderly woman, but a respected and well-loved member of her community. She attends church regularly and is also known for her charity work in her community, a weekly feeding ritual for needy school children and even adults.
  
So far all attempts to get an official comment from police have been futile. It is still not known why the intruder took the trouble to climb the stairs to the top floor and so viciously attack the well-known and well-liked member of the community.

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