And for this next story, if you have a sensitive stomach, you might want to take a take a break.…
A man is in desperate need of surgery to put his stomach lining back into his abdomen. That's after surviving several gunshots that left him paralyzed. Now, 49-year-old Joseph Panting, also known as "Tencho," is living everyday in pain and is asking for assistance to get the medical attention he requires.
Courtney Menzies spoke with him today and has this story.
In August of 2021, 49-year-old Joseph Panting's life changed forever when a gunman barged into his house and began pulling the trigger.
Joseph Panting, Needs Assistance
"I was at my house with my kids and we were inside, sleeping and we heard a voice come and called a name, I took him as my son friend. And I told him, he's not here, he is sleeping. When I told him he was sleeping, I buss my door and the man they just run up so I have to try to defend myself and my kids and they just start buss up shots in the room. They left my kid traumatized right now. Two girls were there, they could have gotten shot too. One of my next son got shot in his foot, but he's okay right now."
But Panting got hit in his hip, his spine, his arm, and shoulder. The incident left him paralyzed from the waist down - but more than that, after the surgeries to save his life, he'd been left with the lining of his stomach protruding from the left side of his abdomen, while on the right, his intestine is pushing out.
However, with his disability and his financial situation, he's unable to get the medical attention and supplies that he needs.
Joseph Panting, Needs Assistance
"From I come out of hospital they left this open, they told me they would leave this open because this is the part that they cut to strain the food, like they could get all the food through this side so it could leak out. So when this part cut, they told me this was like the strainer, when you eat your food and that strain part of it, like water, and the next part is food. That's what they told me so they said to leave that open. Let air catch it because if it's locked up it could bleed because it rub on my clothes or the toilet paper or the wipes. so it bleeds so I have to leave it open."
Courtney Menzies:
"And they didn't say, come back, maybe in a month?"
Joseph Panting, Needs Assistance
"Well they did say some back but I was all the way in Belmopan trying to recover. And when I gone, they told me my doctor, Mr Gutierrez isn't in, he stopped working. So right now I have to try to find another surgical doctor to try see how much they will charge to try put this in and what they will deal with."
And for the past year and four months, Panting has struggled to get the colostomy bags he needs. He's also asking for assistance to pay for surgery and a wheelchair:
Joseph Panting, Needs Assistance
"I really just want to get my colostomy bag to time and I really want to put this in and the chair right there I would want to get. It's the main thing I would want to get."
"I need a wheelchair that's electric so I could move and do my own thing. Try to go a little further and meet people that I know and get a little assistance."
"Everyday I have pain, everyday, with my nerves, nerves pain. Everyday. I want get some pills like Alieve, if I could get a couple of bottles of Alieve I would be good because it's everyday pain. Night and day, sometimes I don't go to sleep until late, 3/4 o clock in the morning because of the pain."
"It's just a lifestyle that I have to get used to. It's not like one time when I used to walk, this is a different stage of life now. I have to get myself more courage to do my stuff and get back those kinds of ways. It's the only thing you can do, give yourself courage all the time, can't just be lying down, because I have kids. I have to try to move around to help them too."
If you want to assist Panting, he can be reached at phone number 655-0986, and he lives on Mayflower Street.
Panting also survived a shot to the face back in 2010.
