Caye Caulker’s Ocean Academy Dolphins boys basketball team, on their way to the regional finals in Orange Walk Town, experienced a horrific accident on Friday evening; 5 still hospitalized – 3 in critical care, 2 in a coma
by Charles Gladden
BELIZE CITY, Mon. Dec. 2, 2024
A horrific single-vehicular traffic accident near Mile 41 on the Philip Goldson Highway has caused students and teachers, all males, of Ocean Academy High School in Caye Caulker Village to suffer a variety of injuries, and left two persons in a coma.
The accident occurred on Friday, November 29, sometime before 5:00 p.m. Ten students and two teachers were traveling to Orange Walk Town to compete in regional basketball finals the following day, when their van flipped and overturned, reportedly as a result of two tires being blown out.
Five persons were transported to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital in Belize City, while seven were sent to the Northern Regional Hospital in Orange Walk Town for treatment.
The latest information provided by Ocean Academy is that all seven persons sent to the Northern Regional Hospital had been discharged, some on the day of the accident and the others by Sunday, December 1. Of the five other persons who were injured – two are in recovery and three are in critical care, of which two of them, both students, are intubated (comatose) at KHMH.
Amandala reached out to the Chairlady of Caye Caulker Village, Seleny Villanueva-Pott for comment; however, she could not entertain our queries at the time. Attempts were also made to contact the principal of Ocean Academy, Heidi Curry; however, our calls went unanswered.
Nonetheless, a statement released by Ocean Academy indicates that the school has opened its bank account for financial donations to cover the necessary medical expenses for the students.
“While we continue to focus on medical treatment and counseling for students who were in or at the scene of the accident (and their families), we will begin counseling support for our remaining students, faculty, and staff who are devastated by this tragedy … we are consulting with doctors at various hospitals in Belize and internationally about the best possible care for recovery, especially in relation to brain and spinal injuries. Your donations and pledges for support will be instrumental in moving quickly if the international options become the priority for serious injuries. We expect one surgery may take place in Guatemala this week. We will know more in the next couple of days,” Ocean Academy said.
Financial donations can be made to account number 100299151 at Atlantic Bank in the name of OCEAN ACADEMY HIGH SCHOOL with the deposit labeled “Medical Assistance”. For international deposits, payments can be made via PayPal https://www.paypal.com/ncp/payment/NMPUE4UU45KV4.
As of print time, police have yet to distribute any additional information regarding the accident.
(AMANDALA Ed. Note: As we pray for the survival and recovery of the seriously injured, we are reminded of the 1971 Western (George Price) Highway tragedy where 4 male athletes lost their lives in a horrific road accident and fire. Check page 25 of Evan X Hyde’s “Sports, Sin And Subversion.” Hopefully, no lives will be lost in this recent tragedy, the injured will go on to a full recovery, and our road users will exercise maximum vehicle preparedness and carefulness while driving to reduce the likelihood of another bad accident on our highways.)