On Saturday afternoon, 23-year-old Dangriga resident Fidel Vernon was set on fire while he was sleeping. He survived but 75% of his body received third degree burns and tonight Vernon is clinging to life in the KHMH but hope is fading fast. Vernon is in an isolated area at the KHMH where he has been slipping in and out of consciousness. And as Fidel fights for his life, his older sister Ebony Vernon is fighting for justice. She made a plea today.
Ebony Vernon, Sister of Burn Victim
"He said he was sleeping on his belly and the young man was waking him and because he didn't wake up, he set him on fire. He locked him inside the house and when he got tired of hearing him bawling, he came back and opened the door and set him underneath a pipe of the water to run on him."
Keith Swift,
What's his condition?
Ebony Vernon,
"Right now he has difficulty breathing. The doctors and nurses are dealing with him because they say it is between life and death thing so they are working up there with him now."
Keith Swift,
This must be hard for you. What percentage of his body is burnt?
Ebony Vernon,
"Mostly the back, the neck, the face, his foot and part of his right foot, 75 percent of his body."
That is not an accident., its not an accident. That is a set fire and so I just want the police to do their worok and make justice come to this family. He doesn't deserve to get that. Although the people in Dangriga know him as a handyman and most of them think that he is retarded, he isn't retarded - he is just slow and that's why I think the police aren't into it because they take him as a mental person and it is not he is mental or retarded - he is just slow. I just want justice come to this family, to his family. I want justice come."
Late word for the family this evening is that because of the extent of the burns to Fidel's head, he might not make it. While he was awake and talking yesterday, today he slipped into a coma. Police Press Officer G. Michael Reid told us this afternoon that police are investigating.
