Kenworth Castro Suffers Fatal Broken Neck in Swing Accident

Kenworth Castro

A mishap on Friday evening led to the unfortunate death of twenty-two-year old Kenworth Castro, who had moved to Caye Caulker just two months ago. Castro, a diver, was last seen alive swinging under the palapa of a well-known establishment. Soon after, he was dead from a broken neck. Despite efforts to save him, he perished, but so far no one has come forward to say precisely how he died.  News Five’s Isani Cayetano reports.

Isani Cayetano, Reporting

Twenty-two-year-old Kenworth Castro lost his life on Friday after falling off a swing and breaking his neck.  He had just returned from a trip along with his employer, and the vessel they were traveling in was docked momentarily at this pier near Koko King on Caye Caulker.  While the duo did not set foot on the beach, they were seen in the company of another man beneath the nearby palapa.  Castro was swinging violently on the roped seat.

Arlene Zelaya, Cousin of Deceased

“What we heard so far is that he was out diving and after diving they were returning back to shore and they stopped at the beach, Koko King I guess, and he was swinging [under] the palapas and that’s when someone that was with him warned him about getting hurt if he happened to slip off the swing.  I guess something happened and we are not sure exactly what happened, we just understand that he got hurt and that his neck was broken and they were trying to revive him when they found him.  Before they found out that his neck was broken, they found him and they saw that he was foaming from the mouth.”

According to residents, Castro had only just been on the island for about two months and was working in the dive tours sector when the tragedy occurred.  Employees, as well as guests at the establishment did not immediately notice what happened, as they were occupied with their respective tasks or sunning on the beach chairs some distance away.

Arlene Zelaya

“We don’t know exactly what occurred, you know, if he fell or if he got injured under the water or outside of the water.  We’re not sure, that’s all we’re hearing is that he got injured and his neck was broken and they pronounced him dead.  That’s all.”

Arlene Zelaya

Isani Cayetano

“Has the family been in touch with police on the island or the other individual that your cousin was with while diving?”

Arlene Zelaya

“Yeah, we got in contact with a guy that he was with.  That’s the information that he was giving us, you know.  We haven’t gotten with any police out there, well not on our families behalf.  That’s all the information that we have so far from the guy.”

News Five is reliably informed that a tourist who was visiting Koko King at the time of the incident attempted to resuscitate Castro.  Those attempts, despite retrieving him from the shallow water, were futile.

Arlene Zelaya

“Kenworth was a person that loves to go fishing and diving.  When he used to live with us in Gardenia with my brother, they use to go diving all the time.  He wasn’t with us for a long time but the time that he was there, he used to go diving with them.  He was a person that love to do diving, basically.”

Isani Cayetano

“So tell us a little bit more about your cousin, what kind of person he was to you and the family and what have you.”

Arlene Zelaya

“Kenworth was a loving person, very loving.  You know you have times when you do things, nobody is perfect, you do things and you live to learn from your mistakes.  Well that was Kenworth, you know, he was trying to turn around his life and be on the right track at all times and things like that.”

Kenworth Castro is also the nephew of Belize Rural North Area Representative Edmund ‘Clear the Land’ Castro. Reporting for News Five, I am Isani Cayetano.