She was in a critical condition, but there is relief tonight as four-month-old baby Ashley Chimilio is recovering from surgery and is in good condition. As we've been reporting (See Infant injured during brawl), baby Ashley's skull was injured on Saturday in Libertad village when she was pelted with rocks thrown by a group of young men who had a misunderstanding with her uncle.
Ashley has been in guarded condition since that time or at least until this morning when KHMH Neurosurgeon Giovanni Lara led a team of 3 doctors through the delicate procedure to repair her collapsed skull. With the assistance of Pediatrician Johanne Perez and Anesthesiologist Ruben Pineda, the procedure lasted three and a half hours. It's the first time that doctors at the KHMH have performed skull surgery on such a small child, but at the end of it they report that they were able to repair the damaged area.
Still, Ashley is being monitored for a 24-hour post recovery period before a final assessment is made. But because the surgery went without incident, doctors say that her prognosis for a full recovery is excellent. Of course, whatever long term brain damage may result will have to be judged over a longer period.
And as for the young men accused of putting her in that surgical theater, they are in jail tonight. 18-year-old Homer Dakers Jr. and 17 year old Job Augilar both residents of Libertad have been remanded to custody after the appeared in Corozal Magistrate's court to answer to charges of dangerous harm and aggravated assault. Along with another friend who has been released, the pair reportedly got on the microphone at a village fair and started insulting, Ashley Chimilio's uncle. Harsh words escalated into rock throwing and that's when the infant was injured.