Teen Basketball Player Hospitalized After Crash Faces Possibility of Paralysis

Tonight, the family of 17-year-old Gilbert Tec is asking the public to pray for him  as the teen remains hospitalized and faces the possibility of not being able to walk again. On November 29, Tec was traveling in a van with the Ocean Academy High School basketball when the vehicle overturned on the Philip Goldson Highway. Since then, Tec had been in an induced coma at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital’s intensive care unit. But, as of Thursday, sedation for the coma was stopped and there are hopes Tec will open his eyes any minute. The honor roll student now remains in critical but stable condition, fighting for his life. The teen’s family now hopes he’ll begin to show signs of improvement as he awaits surgery for a broken femur on Friday. His mother, Fiona Michaels, provided an update on his condition today and says Tec was recently accepted to a university in the US to pursue his dream of studying biology. 

Fiona Michaels, Mother of Gilbert Tec: “He did open his eyes about two nights ago when his sister was in there with him, but he went right back to sleep and hasn’t woken up as yet, like fully awake. He is still, he is very active in the upper part of his body where he is still, he’s moving his hands. He, he squeezes our hands. He’s coughing which they said are all very good signs. So it’s just a matter of him, you know, to wake up which we’re still praying and waiting for. He also has a broken femur. His femur is actually broken in two places. I was advised that the surgery for this will be done on Friday, but again, it’s just a matter of us waiting to see what happens from now until then. He also has a very serious spinal injury where his T12 is broken. Doctors are saying that he may remain paralyzed after recovery. So that is something that we also are trying to work on for after he wakes up. And he is stable enough to try to take him outside of the country to get assistance for him to get surgery on his spine for at least for him to be able to walk again. Like I said as of right now we’re not sure. We’re just waiting for him to wake up.”

Fundraising efforts to assist Tec and other victims, namely, 16-year-old Gevan Canelo and the driver of the van, teacher Zane Zuniga, remain underway. Our newsroom understands that Canelo also remains hospitalized at the KHMH. On Facebook, Canelo’s family wrote that he is in dire need of surgery for a fracture in his spine. Meanwhile, Zuniga remains hospitalized in Guatemala, where he received spinal surgery last week. Michaels asked the public to continue supporting efforts to cover medical expenses for all the victims, who are beloved residents of Caye Caulker Village. 

Fiona Michaels, Mother of Gilbert Tec: “We are still working on efforts to assist with taking him outside. We ask continued prayers for him and for all the students that were in this accident because it’s not only the ones that were hurt, but also the ones that, you know, that were along with them going through a lot right now. Anybody willing to assist can always contact me. I just ask everybody to continue to pray for my baby. My baby is a very sweet, calm, caring person. He has touched so many people’s lives. He lives in Caye Caulker and I tell you everybody knows this child. He’s so friendly, he’s so loving, he’s so caring and hardworking. I just want to make sure that I can do everything that I can for my baby.”

On December 2, 18-year-old Alexander Bainton, who was also severely injured in the incident, succumbed to the injuries he received. Bainton had been hospitalized for several days before he lost the fight while being hospitalized at the KHMH.