BATSUB chopper, doctor, rescue student

A dramatic river rescue by a joint British/Belizean team in the Cayo District over the weekend saved a U.S. student from the jaws of death. News 5 understands that just after one p.m. on Friday, twenty-two year old Daniel Brown, a student doing environmental course work in Belize, was swimming in the Macal River when he disappeared underwater. When he did not resurface, his friends immediately began a search and rescue attempt. But by the time Brown’s body was pulled from the river, he had been underwater for as long as six minutes and was already in respiratory arrest. A trained Emergency Medical Technician in the student group performed C.P.R. on Brown and got him breathing on his own. Not taking any chances on his condition, a helicopter from the BATSUB unit was called in. But the group’s location on the river meant that the British Army Doctor, Major Ingram, had to be dropped at the site and swam through the river’s currents to reach her patient. On the riverbank, Dr. Ingram examined Brown and with help from the students, carried him approximately one fifth of a mile through the jungle to the nearest clearing in which the chopper could safely land. Brown was flown to the municipal landing strip in Belmopan where a BERT ambulance was waiting to transfer him to Universal Health Services in Belize City. News 5 understands that Brown has since been transferred via air ambulance to Houston where he is recovering favourably from slight swelling of the brain and inflammation of the lungs. It is expected that as soon as he is well enough to travel, he will return to Belize to complete his studies.