7 News Belize

Family Says Hospital To Blame For Man’s Death; They Released Him Too Early
posted (January 7, 2014)
On New Year's morning 45 year old Belize City resident Don Tillett was found on the shoulder of the Northern Highway; he had been severely beaten and left for dead.

How he got there is a mystery. All he can remember is giving three men a ride in the city - and one of them clubbing him over the head. Since then, he had recovered consciousness and been showing encouraging signs of recovery - and when we checked yesterday, we learned that he had been discharged from the hospital and was at home.

But, last night things took a sudden turn for the worse, and by 8:30 he was dead. Today we found his family trying to put together the pieces of what has been a disastrous, puzzling start to a new year:...

Daniel Ortiz reporting
45 year-old Don Tillett passed away last night, 6 days after he was abducted, beaten, dumped out of his stolen car, and left to survive on his own on the banks of the Belize River in an area of the Northern Highway just after the Haulover Bridge.

It's a very difficult time for his family, which is grief-stricken because of the sudden loss. On New Year's Day, he offered a ride to 3 strangers who rewarded his kindness by knocking him unconscious stealing the car, his eighteen hundred dollar cell phone, and $2,000 in cash.

Norma Tillett - Sister of Deceased
"We found him on the highway apparently crawling out of the bushes trying to get help."

Tillet spoke briefly with his rescuers, and from what he remembered, he could only give simple descriptions of the events on last week Wednesday.

Norma Tillett - Sister of Deceased
"They start questioning him and he was going in and out of consciousness and we ask him what had happened and who did this to him and all he could say was three men; a Spanish guy with long hair and pony tailed and two other men who attacked him. Apparently he had given them as lift saying that they were going to Coney Drive. He gave them a lift and while going on the boulevard, he said he felt a hit in the head. All he could remember when he woke up he was in the bushes at the Haulover Bridge."

"When I came down he was in a coma, they had him on life support machine and when he finally got out from it, I questioned him and I ask him who did this and what happened and all he could say was the same report that he gave."

While undergoing treatment, his lungs had collapsed so he had to be placed on life support. His family was very concerned about his health. He recovered somewhat, and he regained consciousness; he even spoke to his family. A couple days later, he was sent home. Last night, he had a sudden change in health, and despite efforts to rush him to the hospital, he succumbed while in transit. His family believes that the doctors shouldn't have sent him home so early.

Norma Tillett - Sister of Deceased
"We spoke to the doctor and he told us that he is very weak and he went through a dramatic experience and because of that experience he went through, it weakens the heart. What happened, he had a heart problem before, but because of what he went through it took a toll on the heart. The doctor knew that the heart was weak, but they released him Saturday. He went home and according to him, they told him that he was to get a pacemaker or something for the heart. I received the news last night from my sister that my brother is dead."

Mike Rudon, reporter Ch 5
"Ma'am I know you are taking this very hard, but could you tell us a little bit about what type of man your brother was?"

Nicole Zetina, Niece of Deceased
"I know you hear every day when somebody passes, you hear people say well my son or my brother wasn't a troublemaker. But I can tell you that my uncle really wasn't a troublemaker. Every time we would come here he would be right over there right by that fence with his friends taking a drink and if he's not taking a drink he's working on the vehicles right next door by the garage. He would always on the street with family and close friends just giving jokes and teasing everybody, he was always happy."

"It came as a shock to me because he was always the one we consider as the strong one. When I got the call that that happened to him, I said no, not my uncle, the one that we really did not see this coming."

Norma Tillett - Sister of Deceased
"We will all missed him and I hope that whoever did this would have a heart and realize what they did is wrong and try to ask for forgiveness because there's nothing else - I don't see anything else coming out of this."

As you heard in our story, Don Tillett's family wants KHMH to answer why they released him so early when he had not fully recovered. They said that they didn't agree that he was being sent home, but because the medical professionals had decided, they didn't challenge it.

Today, we contacted KHMH requesting a response, and we were told that we would get one. Up until news time, the hospital had not gotten back to us.

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