Teen injured in bus robbery passes away
Luisa Carillo
There is more bad news tonight as Luisa Carillo, the nineteen year old student who fell from a D & E bus as two armed robbers held up its occupants, died today. The two bandits jacked the bus on the Western Highway on April eleventh but were overpowered by the passengers even though one carried a grenade. One was killed and another got away. But the news of Luisa’s death came as a shock to her family because she was improving significantly following an induced coma at the Belize Health Care Partners. We caught up with her mother, Arcadia Carillo, at the K.H.M.H. Morgue this afternoon.
Arcadia Carillo, Mother of Luisa Carillo (Translated)
“My daughter went into a coma Sunday, this wasn’t an induced one, she went into a coma and the doctor said that he had to do an immediate surgery and it was a very complicated one because the brain was swollen. It was infected and she didn’t respond to the surgery, it didn’t do her any good. When they were finished with the surgery her head was swollen because of the brain.”
Marion Ali
“She had been progressing so well since the induced coma and that was why the doctors had decided to wake her up and then to remove her and put her in the general ward. Did they explain what could have happened to reverse the condition?
Arcadia Carrillo
“The swelling on the brain was unexpected and that’s why they had to do the immediate surgery and the doctors even thought that everything was good and we were all happy. Friday when I saw her she was okay, she was opening her eyes, she was moving her arms and Saturday she was talking. She asked for me and her dad and she asked for food and she ate as well but she just deteriorated all of a sudden.”
Luisa died of severe brain damage at one-ten this morning. She would have graduated from fourth form this June.
So what caused Luisa’s death nine days after she fell off the bus on the Western Highway? Doctor Joel Cervantes, a neurosurgeon at Belize Health Care Partners, explained how her condition deteriorated.
Dr. Joel Cervantes, Neurosurgeon, Belize Health Care Partners
dr. joel cervantes
“By late Friday afternoon she was talking, small short phrases, couple of words. Her language was very understandable. She was starting to tolerate drinking liquids. By Saturday she was communicating with her family very short periods of time. She started tolerate what we call a soft diet and that continued that way on Saturday. On Sunday morning early I saw her a couple minutes after seven in the morning and she did respond to my questions asking her if she was sleepy, she said yes. If she had a headache, she said maybe a little bit. And very short phrases that made a lot of sense. Approximately about eight-forty-five a.m. on Sunday I was informed by the nurses that she had suddenly mentioned having severe headache and she had become unconscious and not responsive to when she was talked to or when she was being touched. So we examined her, realized that she had fallen into a state of coma. She had to be put back on the machine on which to breathe. An emergency brain CT Scan was done and we saw that she had an area around the brain stem which is the most primitive part of the brain that there was a bleed; blood in some water canals. Apart from that, the amount of brain swelling had gone down initially had risen a lot more than even when she had first come in. at that point we realized that she needed surgery so she was taken into emergency surgery to decompress and remove boom to allow the brain tissue to swell out. After that even with the surgery whereby space was created to allow the brain tissue to swell out like an escape valve. Even with that and with treatment in intensive care unit. She still succumbed to her injuries a little after one a.m.
Cervantes said that when she did speak, Carillo understood that she had an injury that was severe and recognized her loved ones were by her side.
RIP Luisa Carillo… another robbery …
The death of this girl is of no shock to me; actually “death” was the first thing that had entered my mind since her condition was so severe and that she had surgery in Belize.
She had a much better chance of surviving if she was taken to Mexico, or the states.
Sound like the surgery did not go well in the first place, Look at the photo above, for someone with severe brain damage the photo shows minor equipment that was suppose to aid this victim.
This incident is just another reminder that we have lost our humanity. Furthermore, the obvious erosion of the moral fibre of society continues affect innocent citizens like Luisa.
It saddens my heart that individuals continue to become “casualties” of the actions of other. We cannot continue to live insular lives as it pertains to dealing with crime and ensuring that each citizen is able to get the knowledge and skills necessary for active citizenship.
When we empower others through education and skills training, we are helping others to become an asset rather than a liability to self, community, society and by extension the country.
I commend those on the bus who challenged the assailants and neutralized one of them…they are heroes. May we be catalyst of change and be the source of each other’s prosperity and safety.
Rest in Peace Luisa and may the Lord give your parents and family the strength to weather the storm of their loss.
Kenrick Franciso
This happen every time in Belize. The situation was changing but with the unskilled and practicing so called technicians these are the results. No one survives. we need to get good technicians and affordable prices. the rates are too high hence a reason why most people go to neighbouring countries for medical attention.
it is a pity for a young girl to have died so young and believe the doctors did everything in their power to make her recover
I am heartbrokn over the passing of Luisa who fight until the end, My deepest condolences to the family.But Jesus Christ of NAzareth loved her more so he took her to that special place he went to prepare for those who loved him.The place where there are no more tears and pain, one thing is for sure that those who love Jesus will see her again.May the family find comfort in knowing that they had time to talk to her before she left this world.I pray for peace and comfort during this time of pain knowing that the bible say God is close to the broken hearted. May God continue to Bless Dr Cervantes who did his best for her.
Rest in peace Luisa, sleep until he called us all by name!!!!!
condolence to the family carillo, hoping that this greif passes away very soon it’s very sad to hear her pass away when all thought she was recovering well. a young life taken away by sensless people who want to robb the passenger now she’s gone. hope the guy that got away some how dies horribly for the cause of luisa and when his dying he should remember all the bad things he did.
My heart continues to be saddened at the passing of Luisa. It is disappointingly obvious that innocent citizens continue to be victims of the endless cycle of crime and violence plaguing our society.
We cannot continue to held hostage by these acts of violence and I commend those passengers for taking a stand and neutralizing one of the culprits. My salutations to them as they are heroes.
However, we must continue to look at acts of violence and crime as the absence of God from our lives, the erosion of the moral fibre of society and the fact that some individuals are not being empowered through education and skills training.
If we are of God then we will not engage in acts that are the source of people pain and demise. God is of LOVE and when we love, we don’t harm nor hurt. We must continue to engage in acts that lead to each other’s prosperity and help our children to avoid being a menace to society.
May God continue to give the Carillo family the strength to weather the storm of their loss and may we all strive to be agents of positive change in our country. The Lord be with us all.
Thank you all who followed the story of Luisa Carrillo till the very end. Thank you for your well wishes and your sympathies. God’s blessings on you all…
These guys that are terrorizing our Belizean Citizens are no different than terrorist in other parts of the world.Mr Barrow i am once again beging you to step to the plate so as to avoid more incidents like this from happening to our Belizean Citizens.
Sad……………………..
Innocent and good willed young girl she was. It agravates me to think that we lost her because of lazy no good and senseless animals who don’t want work to earn, instead they choose to terrorise and rob people for their belongings. We have to fight back with the help of God, we have to defend ourselfs, we have to stand up against crime. We connot allow criminals to tear us appart and to bring us down like this. something has to be done to put a stop to all this crime, the law enforcers have to come in stronger and we have to fight for the safety of each other, like the passengers of that bus who stood and fought against the robbers, you were brave and yes, you are heroes.
We are so devastated by her loss, the terror she suffered on that bus and the pain and grief and sorrow of my uncle and aunt, Luisa”s Parents and and sisters part of them was taken away, part of their life was broken, shattered and it can never be repaired.
I believe that Luisa could have survived, if only she was kept longer with the 0xygen machines, she was disconnected off them because of her improvement after noticing that the swelling of her brain went down 20% I think she should not have been disconnected untill the swelling was down by atleast 50 or 60%. I also believe that Dr. Cervantes put his best into her. What kills me is that for the 10 days that Luisa was treated at the Medical her bill came up to $50,000.00 this is unbelievable and definately unaffordable.
We appreciate the help of all those good hearted people who donated money to support her, thank you! Any one else who would like to help, it would be greatly appreciated. May God Multiply and richly bless and keep you and your family safe.