There was traffic accident last night on the Philip Goldson Highway which killed a man from Carmelita Village in Orange Walk, and left his wife in the hospital.
It happened at around 7:00 last night between miles 14 and 15 on the Phillip Golden highway. 38 year-old Joaquin Villamil was traveling in his Isuzu Trooper SUV with his wife, 37 year-old Julissa, heading to Belmopan.
Joaquin Villamil lost control of the vehicle and ran off the road, where it flipped several times. First responders tell us that both he and his wife, Julissa, were violently flung from the vehicle, but Joaquin suffered the worst of the injuries. The vehicle landed on top of him, and they had to push it off to rescue him.
Julissa Villamil was injured to her legs, and when the ambulance arrived, and she was rushed to the KHMH still conscious. Joaquin Villamil wasn't so fortunate, and though bystanders tried to render him aid, they couldn't keep him alive long enough for the emergency personnel to take over.
We spoke with one of those first responders who described their efforts to resuscitate Villamil:
Dennis Guild - First Responder
"Others arrived at the scene. 2 truck drivers stopped to help, and a couple of passersby stopped to help. They removed the vehicle which was sitting on top of the guy, and rolled it over on the side. So, the guy probably had a lot of internal injuries from that. His wife got thrown off to the side. She had injuries to the foot, but she was crying and stuff; she was okay. We had her sitdown and get her knees up so that she can't bleed profusely, slow down the bleeding because blood doesn't run up as quickly. The other guy, he started - we checked on him. He had a weak pulse. He started foaming. His tongue was swollen, coming out of his mouth. Blood coming out of his nose like bubbles. So we tried to clear his air passage. Roll him just enough to the side to clear the air passage, and try to give him a little resuscitation, to get a pulse back. We had a pulse for a good while, and we had him going for a little bit. When police - we saw the lights coming, and we saw police and ambulance coming toward. We thought the lead one was police and the last one was the ambulance. But, when we saw that we already stopped. By time he came back, we lost his pulse again, and so, we tried to get it back. When the ambulance finally arrived though, we lost the battle with the guy."
Daniel Ortiz, reporter
"What was going through your mind at that time?"
Dennis Guild
"I was like, a lot of people was there before me, and I believe that Belizeans should - they have the Red Cross, the YWCA, and the YMCA. I believe they should emphasize more training in first aid."
Daniel Ortiz
"So, you believe that the gentleman, had there been a quicker assistance, he may have been able to survive."
Dennis Guild
"A response, assistance, anything to help."
We approached his family for an interview, but they declined. They did tell us that he was the father of 3 children. Julissa Villamil is currently recovering at the KHMH.
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