In December 2024, students from Ocean Academy in Caye Caulker were in a terrible accident that claimed the life of Alex Bainton and left several injured.
The students were on their way to attend a basketball tournament in Orange Walk when the tire blew out causing the vehicle to overturn.
Well, one student who survived is finally talking to us tonight - telling us about the terrible, traumatizing incident that left him paralyzed. Gilbert Tec told us his story:
On November 29 2024, an accident changed the life of 19 year old Gilbert Tec. A former student at Ocean Academy High School, he and his team were heading to a basketball game in Orange Walk when the van lost control and flipped multiple times.
Up to now he still can't fully remember what actually happened.
Gilbert Tec, Accident Victim
"If I'm being honest, all I remember was laughing with my friends in the van we were in. Then I blinked, I was in hospital bed."
He reflected on his first time waking up in the hospital and realizing he was paralyzed.
Gilbert Tec, Accident Victim
"It was very, very scary because I didn't know where I was or why I was there or what have happened. And what also made it scary was because I was trying to speak, but I couldn't speak. I was mute. And then my legs weren't moving."
"I wasn't really sure what was happening because my knowledge on paralyzed wasn't very strong at that time. So I didn't know what was happening. I was very scared and the doctors weren't really telling me anything."
"So I was very confused and was scary. Paralyzed from the waist down. I can't feel from right here all the way down. Yeah, and this leg is a little tricky with this leg because of the broken femur. I can't really flex this leg how I want to."
"How I cope with the pain, I honestly can't. Because the pills don't really work for me, what I've noticed, but I just gotta sit there in pain until it stops or slows down. And it was easier to maneuver in the wheelchair when I was at the state."
And now this young man faces a whole new existence, the hard road of being a handicapped person in Belize.
Gilbert Tec, Accident Victim
"I would like to ask for people to respect handicapped users and stuff because they would park in handicap parking sometimes and it really makes it really harder to maneuver around the city."
And with the trauma and injuries that the group of boys and teacher experienced that day, they still keep in contact.
Gilbert Tec, Accident Victim
"Oh, I love those guys. They're like my brothers, all of them. I still stay in touch with a lot of them, especially Mr. Zuniga, our teacher who is also injured. I always check upon him here and there. We're going to contact, yeah."
In contact with the living and remembering the friend who passed away from the injuries sustained in the accident.
Gilbert Tec, Accident Victim
"Our relationship started on the basketball court. That's how we gained a stronger relationship. Our relationship was always about Jokes and stuff because anytime he would see me, he would go, oh, big forehead, and yeah, I always teased him back. I always remember him always a jokey, ongoing, strong guy from Caye."
And Tec now finds strength in his family and how they are handling the situation.
Fiona Michael, Mother of Accident Victim
"Since all of this happened and we're back home and settle in, it has been a struggle. The entire family had to, we all had to adjust our lives to accommodate his new situation. We struggle every day with him getting used to his new situation, his new way of life, him not being able to move as much as he want or how he wants to."
"Because if anybody knows him, he has always been this moving, energetic young man. He was going to school, he was working, he was playing ball. So it's very difficult sometimes to see him in that space or in that place where he struggles with getting used to this new way."
"The first thing we had to do, I had to make sure that we had the ramp built at the front of the house because we're like three steps up to get into the house. So that had to get, we had to get that done before, even before we came home to make sure that that was there."
"We had to make adjustments for the bedroom with the bed to make sure that the bed is not high, too high or too low for him to get on and off the bed. The arrangement in the house itself had to be readjusted for him to be able to get through in and out."
"We also had to get AC, an AC installed in the bedroom because I'm not sure if you guys, well, some people might not be aware, but he had to get a colostomy bag because he can't, like you mentioned, he can't feel from the waist down."
It's a heavy burden for this single mother now caring for a paraplegic:
Fiona Michael, Mother of Accident Victim
"Financially, it's kind of difficult sometimes because we have therapy that we have to go to. We have different things that we need to get for him to make sure that he's comfortable."
"Like I said, he has a colostomy bag that supplies. There are different supplies that I wouldn't really want to go into much detail, you know, that he requires. When it comes to assistance, I mean, if anybody would like to still assist, we will openly accept."
"It doesn't necessarily have to be monetary. There are a lot of things that he needs, a lot of things that are required to make him comfortable. Like I said, it doesn't have to be monetary, but whatever assistance anybody would be comfortable with or would, from the bottom of their heart, would like to, we openly accept."
Tec will be going to the US to get further treatment including surgery. Anyone wanting to assist his mom can contact her at 6033314.
