A family in Orange Walk is in stunned and grieving disbelief after their 9 year old son died as the result of a traffic accident. On Thursday at midday, Standard three student Geraldo Lopez was walking across the northern highway - when he was knocked down by a southbound motorbike. Today his mother told the media that they pulled over in front of Rony's Tortilla Factory - and she sent her son to buy. But he had to cross the road first. It's simple enough since the highway doubles as the main street in Orange Walk Town. But just feet from the tortilla factory, Geraldo was knocked down. He showed no outward signs of bleeding, and neither did he have any broken limbs, but by Saturday, the child very suddenly died. Asking to appear off camera, his mother told the media the story of the accident, and his very unexpected demise:
VOICE OF: Normita Lopez, Mother of deceased
"I saw him crossing but there was no vehicle coming. He was going and then all of a sudden a motorcycle came fast and knock down my little boy. When he knock down my son, he stopped. But at no time did he came over to where he (my son) was or asked what happened or if I needed help - nothing. At that time all I had in mind was to take care of my son and then another person just came to assist me and he took the boy to the hospital and when we found out the cyclist was not there."
Reporter
"What injuries your son sustained as a result of the accident?"
Normita Lopez, Mother of deceased
"When he was taken to the hospital, his head was already swollen and then when his uniform was off, he had a bruise on his hand, but there were no bleeding and nothing on the outside to say that he had any bruises or something. But the swell on is head yes."
Reporter
"So that is what doctors are monitoring?"
Normita Lopez, Mother of deceased
"Yes."
Reporter
"What were they saying about him at that time because of that swelling that he had?"
Normita Lopez, Mother of deceased
"Well they said that the knock that he got on his head - that caused the swelling on his head. The thing is that we cannot understand why they did not allow us to do a cat scan to him, because we ask for it, my husband asked for it and they say that they will do the x-ray and ultrasound and when that was done, the results shows that everything was okay. So Dr. Coleman said that it wasn't necessary to do the cat scan."
Reporter
"So he died here at the Northern Regional Hospital?"
Normita Lopez, Mother of deceased
"No. He died on Saturday morning while going to Belize City. He was being prepared to do a cat scan, ready to take him in the ambulance, but then his pulse fell and he couldn't make it."
Reporter
"And until Saturday they decided to send him to Belize for a cat scan? Why was that decision made on Saturday?"
Normita Lopez, Mother of deceased
"Because in the morning, and when was husband was there taking care of him in the night, he said that all of a sudden my boy started to kick. He was no longer talking and his little eyes were no longer blinking and so the nurses said that the boy was critical and so they say it's necessary to take him to Belize City to do a cat scan. It was already too late."
Police did arrest and charge the man driving the motorbike. He is Sixto Martinez, a Belizean Welder and he is charged with Manslaughter By Negligence, Causing Death By Careless Conduct and driving without due care and attention.
Martinez told police that he was at fault. One other person lost his life in a traffic accident this weekend. It happened in the south at the junction of Santa Cruz and Placencia Road, where at around 7:45 on Saturday night, 37-year-old San Ignacio resident David Bermudez, was driving a Dodge Ram Pickup towards Mayan King Village when he hit a man on a bicycle. The victim, 50-year-old Jorge Reynoso Juarez had extensive head and body injuries and died at the Southern Regional Hospital.
Email
Print