Teen RTA Survivor Gevan Canelo Heads to U.S. for Critical Spine Treatment

Almost three weeks after an RTA claimed the life of one Ocean Academy student and left several others crucially injured, Gevan Canelo will be receiving further medical treatment abroad. The 16-year-old, who suffered a fractured vertebra in his spine, left the country today en route to Shriner’s Children’s Hospital in Philadelphia. Canelo’s Godmother, Ellen Armstrong, who lives in Canada, made an appeal on Facebook that caught the eye of a Shiner’s affiliate, who assisted in getting Canelo’s treatment set up. Armstrong says Gevan has a long and difficult road ahead of him and explained that efforts are still underway to rally support for him.

Ellen Armstrong, God Mother of Gevan Canelo: “Long story short he was accepted to have the spinal surgery done at the Shriners Children’s Hospital in Philadelphia where his dad has family nearby that can help support. So in an amazing effort, there was a tremendous team of people, mostly on Caye Caulker, who worked to get his passport and US Visa Appointments expedited and visa approved. And today, Gevan is on his way to Philadelphia on the plane as we speak. Shriners are estimating a three to six month recovery period. So he could be up there for quite a while. So definitely more funding, fundraising is necessary to support him while he is there. And there are a couple of ways people can donate. If anybody happens to be listening in Canada, they can send an e-transfer to myself and those funds will go directly to support Gevan. But for people in Belize, they can donate to the Atlantic Bank and the account number is 100-299-151 in the name of Ocean Academy High School and label the deposit transfers as medical assistance. For international expenses, there is a link that will be provided to donate to PayPal and this money all will go as well towards supporting them while they were in the US.”

The accident occurred on Friday, November 29 on the Philip Goldson Highway. Canelo was one of four people who were seriously injured. On December 5, Alexander Bainton, who had suffered from severe brain injuries passed away. Seventeen-year-old Gilbert Tec, who was among the seriously injured, had a successful femur repair surgery last Friday that took eight hours. Ocean Academy says that his recovery is progressing incrementally. Meanwhile, teacher Zane Zuniga returned to Belize on Saturday from Guatemala after successful surgery.