There was never an official report from police so details are few but we do know that a 7 year old boy was seriously hurt in a traffic accident in January in Corozal. He is Moises Acertuna who doctors thought would never make it. Well he did make it – but he has been hanging on by a thread and today the 7 year old was flown out of the country for emergency medical treatment. Here’s the story.
Keith Swift Reporting,
This was a picture taken last year of 7 year old Moises Acertuna. He was healthy then but this is him now. The car accident has left the 7 year old – feeble, tortured by pain, and chronically underweight.
Keith Swift,
Moises how you feel right now
Moises Acertuna, Accident Victim
“In pain.”
Moises is less than half the weight he was in January. He has lost 30 pounds. And in fact doctors had given up on him. Now they say his prognosis in Belize is dim.
Dr. Cecilio Eck, Paediatrician
“He is at a point where he is slowly starving to death.”
And that is because the injury he received in the accident ruptured his stomach – and for the 7 year old that means he cannot eat because he cannot digest food.
Dr. Cecilio Eck,
“The long and short of it is because of the injuries that he sustained to his belly the meter of his gut was taken out three feet. Secondly a vital connection between the liver and the gut was disrupted, that part of the gut was removed, and because of the infections, the belly was left open and since then he has been through numerous regimes of antibiotics and he has responded quite well. So right now he is infection free. What needs to be reconstructed is the connection between the liver which produces bile which digests fats, that connection, to the small intestine was disrupted. So that needs to be reconstructed.”
Keith Swift,
So right now he can’t eat?
Dr. Cecilio Eck,
“He eats a little bit, he takes sips of Ramen noodles and souple, very small sips but his body can’t digests it.”
For them first time since the accident in January, Moises will leave the KHMH this afternoon. He will be taken to the international airport where he will be transported via a private jet to a hospital in Texas where he will undergo surgery. For the seven year old that surgery will mean the difference between life and death.
Keith Swift,
How important is it that he gets this surgery?
Dr. Cecilio Eck,
“It is life or death. In our country we don’t have the subspecialty care to reconstruct his gut and because of this, if he doesn’t get it done abroad, he will die. The paediatric surgeon looked at us and his parents and said that he may not live through the week and we started to prepare him for death. So to answer your question is if it is important for him to get the surgery – yes; life or death.”
Rev. Tim Tam, The World at Work Ministries
“The doctors here it is not so much that they have given up on the boy himself but the technology, what the hospital has here – they couldn’t do the type of surgery needed so the hope was what’s come about, that a hospital in the US would be able to do it.”
Reverend Tim Tam along with other donors found a hospital but it isn’t cheap.
Rev. Tim Tam,
“The medical expenses are going to be immense because he will be there for six months to a year and the aftercare is even US$1 million to do. But the hospital there, the doctors, they are all volunteering. The person who owns the jet, he is covering most of that, we are trying to raise just a little bit of money to defray some of the fuel cost but other than that it is all donation.”
Keith Swift,
What is your hope right now?
Rev. Tim Tam,
“My hope is that we get him there as quick as we can and that he lives.”
Keith Swift,
So you know this evening you are flying out to Houston. How you feel about that?
Moises Acertuna,
“I feel good…happy.”
Sandra Moguel, KHMH
“We never gave up hope and we are glad because we couldn’t believe that Moises could have help up for so long. This is about three months now.”
And Moises has one request.
Moises Acertuna,
“Keep praying for me.”
Moises Acertuna should already be in Amarillo Texas where he will be taken immediately to the Baptist St. Anthony’s Hospital. His medical care which will amount to millions will be free of cost to him. He will remain Texas for at least six months.
