As we told you earlier, two men were charged today for the shooting on Monday evening on Central American Boulevard which left two adult males with minor injuries, one female child with severe injuries and one man dead. But that charge probably brings no closure to the families of the dead and injured. 19 year old Dorrell Williams Jr.’s family is preparing to bury him on Monday while Janay Moguel’s family is grappling with the tough issues arising from her very serious spinal injury. The seven year old Standard One student is still in the intensive care unit at the Belize Healthcare Partners Limited tonight where the news is not at all encouraging. I spoke to her doctor today.

Jacqueline Godwin Reporting,
Seven year old Janay Moguel is asking why she still has no feelings in her legs it is a tough question to answer. How do you tell a child who has always been filled with life, love to run and play with her cousins and friends that there is a chance she will never walk again?

Dr. Joel Cervantes, Neuro/Spine Surgeon
“She is a very direct child. She remembers me very well. I think she doesn’t like the fact that, she blames me, I don’t want to use the word blame but she says I cut her and she doesn’t want to fell the pain of the cut and she is asking for answers. I have asked the family at this point to actively massage, mobilize her arms and her legs, and they do it and the first thing she says is I don’t feel it and mommy why doesn’t my leg move. So you feel a knot in your throat and I am trying to explain to her as best as possible in terms that she could understand but not trying to kill her spirit.

If we kill her spirit and her will to fight then the battle will be lost for her to recover feeling and movement in the left arm and both legs. So I have to be careful and I have to hold back a little bit with Janay personally because of her age and what she can really understand although she is not a fool and she is aware. She has asked me when will she be able to play with her two little cousins and it is answer I cannot give her. It is not a nice feeling but I am hoping there is going to be improvement, I am hoping when she starts the therapy, that there is going to be some response.”

Today when I visited with neuro and spine surgeon Dr. Joel Cervantes at Belize Healthcare Partners Limited he says while the wound to the spine looks clean and there is no longer draining of residual blood from the spine, Janay is still unable to feel and move her legs and left arm.

Jacqueline Godwin,
“What is your concern about her paralysis?”

Dr. Joel Cervantes,
“That it could be something permanent and the factors that she has for her are her youth and that I think she has a very supportive family. There has been some community support and we are looking at as soon as perhaps by today we might be able to get her out of the intensive care setting into what we call intermediate care which is a step down; we have intensive and step down to intermediate care and then you step to the general ward. So we’re planning, if everything goes as planned, by this afternoon to have her in intermediate care and hopefully by Monday, Tuesday at the latest, we’ll have her in the general ward.”

Dr. Cervantes says from a scientific point of view there is a slim chance that his young patient’s life will return to normal. He remains hopeful that Janay will able to recover movement in her left arm and both legs.

Dr. Joel Cervantes,
“We are starting to look at the possibility of getting her to appropriate and as advanced physical rehabilitation therapy, occupation therapy, as possible and we even have an angle that is researched right now on the possibility of getting her out of Belize where there are more advanced modalities with respect to rehabilitation therapy.”

Dr. Cervantes says if Janay Moguel is unable to regain movement in her left arm and both legs that at least she will be able to recover well enough the use of her left arm which would be a great victory for Janay, the family and the medical staff at Belize Healthcare Partners Limited. Janay’s parents Marvin and Ruth have been struggling with their daughter’s medical prognosis and are relying on prayers for a miracle.

Dr. Joel Cervantes,
“I think they understand very clearly what the injuries are. There is a certain amount of confusion at the same time and I think this has put their lives upside down. From what I’ve been able to look and analyze they are just regular normal working class people and they have a lot of love and affection for their child. They are there, all the family is there, and even though I have an obligation to speak from a scientific view and to say things just the way I am seeing them, they still have hope that is bigger than what I can offer them from a scientific point of view. So I am not going to take that away from them, that based on religious belief, the family support, and the fact that she is young, they are willing to try any and everything for Janay to get back as much of the movement and feeling as possible.”

But while at this point Janay Moguel is not being told about the possibility of not walking again there will come a time when she will need to be told.

Dr. Joel Cervantes,
“We have to agree of course with the family members, if they are people of a certain faith we always respectfully have to speak with whatever head of religion or pastor or Minister of word so that you tell the patient things the way they are and of course we always see the cases that go beyond scientific explanations, you can call them a miracle. I’ve seen them, haven’t been able to explain them from a scientific point of view, and you at least want to leave that instilled in the child, that if she tries real and she sets her mind to it, there is a lot that she will be recover.”

Jacqueline Godwin,
“Whenever someone goes through such a trauma there are different levels before you recover or come to the acceptance that this has happened. Where is everyone right now?”

Dr. Joel Cervantes,
“I think that the grief of her having been injured has finally passed. I think they are in denial at this point of what the reality of the situation is. I haven’t seen the family members in a rage but they are in denial. They are pretty calm but they are in denial. I think the person who is most distraught is her mother, that is the person you can see the pain in her eyes every time you speak to her so you have to be very careful and choose your words because she understands fully well and you don’t want to say nothing that hurts her feelings or kills her spirit for any chance for further improvement.”

Sadly financial assistance has only been trickling in to help Janay Moguel and it is hoped that just as Belizeans showed an overwhelming support for the Haitian victims, they will now do the same for one of their own little ones.

Dr. Joel Cervantes,
“And so I think the family would be appreciative of anything that they can get, even if it is just a smile from somebody, if it is a good complement, if it is financial support, a pledge or getting something in person, I think they would appreciate it a lot.”

Janay Moguel’s condition is now considered stable. Once she is removed from the ICU, the medical cost will be reduced. But still, there are many more days of hospitalization ahead, and any financial donation you can make will help in the recovery and therapy she will need.

You can help by calling Janay’s parents Marvin at cell phone number 604 -8121 or her mother Ruth at cell phone number 605-5641. You can Also Make Donations at First Caribbean International Bank in Account Number 10103315.