Tonight, a family from Camalote Village is worried about the head of their family.
He's 60-year-old Rejinaldo Ruiz, a father of 4, and he's in a coma at the KHMH. Yesterday evening at around 5:00, he was on the way to his job site at Caves Branch. But, he never made it because while he was riding his motorcycle on the George Price Highway, he was rear-ended by a police patrol pickup truck driven by Inspector Clifton Jones.
The force of the impact flung him from the cycle, and he suffered major head trauma.
This morning, we spoke with an eyewitness. She and her husband were driving by when it happened.
She said that the officer begged them to take an injured Ruiz to the Northern Regional Hospital.
Barbara Fisher - Eyewitnesses/First Responder
"Yesterday 5 o'clock, or after 5, we were heading to Belmopan, and when we got by the rice factory, I saw - my and my husband - the red motorcycle guy coming to this direction, to St. Matthews. And the police vehicle was coming the same way as well when the police vehicle hit the motorcycle. It flung the man up, and then down again. So, immediately, we just parked over the next side, and my husband went out to see where he can assist in any way. Then, the police vehicle just went down a little bit more, before it stopped, like about 2 minutes away down more. The driver, the policeman, came out, and he ran up to where the victim was. We just came out, and he said if we could just please take the man to the hospital."
"We went to the hospital, and we stayed there with the family until about 5 minutes to 7, and we found out that his name was Mr. Reginald, and he was still in the coma."
"After we put him in the vehicle, his head was bleeding, and as he went into the vehicle, to the back, he went straight into a coma."
Voice of: Israel Ruiz - Son of Accident Victim
"Right now, he's critical because he's on a machine. He's not breathing for himself, and he's been in a coma since yesterday, about 4:30 to 5. So, we're just waiting to see what will be the outcome of it."
Reporter
"What are the doctors saying about the possibility of him waking up and recovering?"
Voice of: Israel Ruiz
"Well, the doctors really can't say anything much because they just got to wait. They say we just have to have patience and wait. We really have nothing [we can do]."
Reporter
"Did they describe the injuries he suffered in the accident?"
Voice of: Israel Ruiz
"Physically, there's not much, but he said that it's head trauma. So, the damage is in the inside, and not on the outside."
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