19 yr old with tumor on his brain gets help from Healthcare Partners

darnell bennett

His medical troubles started months ago and he was first treated for headaches. But nineteen year old Darnel Bennett of San Ignacio soon found out that his condition is life threatening. This morning Bennett left Belize en route to the USA where he will be getting treatment for a large tumor that developed in his brain. The family was fortunate to have received assistance from the Belize Healthcare Partners, the Kettering Medical Center of Ohio, and friends. News Five’s Delahnie Bain reports.

Delahnie Bain, Reporting

Nineteen year old Darnell Bennett started complaining of headaches in June of this year. He was treated for pain but soon had to be hospitalized because his symptoms worsened. As it turned out, the teenager was diagnosed with a large and aggressive tumor in his brain.

Dr. Joel Cervantes, Neurosurgeon

dr. joel cervantes

“Approximately about two and a half months ago, I saw Daniel in my office and he came to me complaining of headache and having episodes whereby when he would bend over he would want to pass out and have more headache and a lot of dizziness. Taking a look at him in my office and doing a full examination, I realized that something was terribly wrong and my first suspicion was a brain tumor. Consequently he got a brain CT Scan done a couple days afterwards and true to my suspicions, he has a huge brain tumor in a very important part of the brain called the diencephalon, the middle part of the brain.”

steve bennett

Steve Bennett, Father of Darnel Bennett

“They had to do an emergency surgery on him. So they placed a stunt on his head and he was in the hospital bout two or three days then they sent him home. He was alright for a week then after that he began again with the vomiting and the headache. So we had to rush him back to the hospital, Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital and there is where Dr. Cervantes trend to him again. I think they gave him a second surgery to fix the stunt in his head.”

While quick fixes have worked so far, Darnel’s survival depends on treatment that is not available locally.  Today he left the country, en route to the Kettering Medical Center in Ohio.

Dr. Joel Cervantes

“Because of the size of the tumor, he’s going to need a surgery to take off as much tumor as possible, trying to cause as little damage as possible. Also he may need radio therapy, which is none existent in Belize and also chemo-therapy. We have some chemo-therapy in Belize but he needs a full diagnosis to know if he needs a combination of surgery, chemotherapy and radio therapy.”

It would cost the family three to four hundred thousand Belize dollars just to cover the first phase of treatment. But thanks to Kettering, BHPL, and the Seventh Day Adventist Community in San Ignacio, the Bennett family will not have to bear the costs.

Dr. Joel Cervantes

“Darnel’s tumor particularly seems to be a type of brain cancer. That’s a suspicion we have deep down and unfortunately other organizations were not readily available to render help because of their policies when it’s a probable brain cancer.”

Steve Bennett

“I don’t know what I would have done because we don’t have that kind of money. At the same time I want to thank Dr. Cervantes and the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital for their assistance. We are a poor family and we could not done anything for him.”

Dr. Joel Cervantes

“Definitely, I know that Mr. Montejo and through B.H.P.L., the links that they have in the US I know that Darnel is going to be in excellent hands and of course, I will continue to be his in country neurosurgeon when he comes back.”

Delahnie Bain for News Five.

Darnel is expected to check in at the Kettering Medical Center on Monday and will be away from home for at least a month or two.