SARSTOON FORWARD OPERATIONS BASE, Toledo District, Thurs. Nov. 15, 2018– Private Fidel Williams, 25, a soldier of the Belize Defence Force who was posted for military duties at the Forward Operations Base at the mouth of the Sarstoon River, Toledo, lost his left eye after he fell off the wharf and a steel rod that was submerged in the water penetrated his left eye and damaged his eye socket.

Williams was rushed to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital in Belize City by air, and was admitted to the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit in a critical condition.

During the weekly police press brief held this morning at the Raccoon Street Police Station, ACP Joseph Myvett said that Williams and others were on routine patrol at about 9:00 yesterday morning when he went to untie the stern line of their boat and accidentally slipped and fell into the water, where his eye impacted a submerged steel rod.

The Belize Defence Force has launched an investigation into the incident.