By Charles Gladden

SAN PEDRO, Ambergris Caye, Thurs. Sept. 4, 2025

   A 2-year-old male toddler tragically perished on Wednesday, September 4, while on a boat from San Pedro Town to Belize City, where he was being taken for emergency medical care.

   The child, Kaleel Nah, was unwell throughout the weekend, suffering from a fever and vomiting, and his mother, Virgen Garcia, did her best to manage the illness at home.

   On Monday, September 1, he was taken to the San Pedro Polyclinic and medicine was prescribed for his condition. However, by the following day, his condition had worsened, and it did not improve after he was given an injection.   

   “They decide fu put he pan drips; they mi kyahn find his veins. They pinch my baby over and over fu almost two hours fi try find a vein, and all I cuda mi see my baby eena pain. They did the drips rectally because they couldn’t find a vein,” an emotional Garcia said.

   “Next day, a doctor grab di case, and they started again with di pinching; [but] they neva find anything [vein], and my baby mi done look weaker. I even tell di docta, my baby di sleep too much; dat nuh normal. And she replied, ‘ih normal fu a baby, because that’s how they get their strength back when they’re sick.’ So, I left it soh,” she said.

   Personnel at the hospital told Garcia that the child was improving, but after 3:00 p.m. she was advised by a doctor to take the child to a pediatrician in Belize City.  

   She departed San Pedro with the child via boat after 4:30 p.m., but shortly before arriving at Caye Caulker, the toddler passed away.

   “When we mi di touch Caye Caulker my baby just gone. People mi di try help out, but my baby just gone. When we reach Caye Caulker they had some medics di wait, and ker ah da clinic. They had he fu a while di try revive ahn, and they tell me… they tell me my baby gone,” she lamented.

   “If they knew that my baby mi bad, weh mi so hard fu send me from early. They had he from Tuesday night from 9 o’clock and whole day Wednesday. If they mi di see my baby neva di respond, they cuda tell me fu come da Belize early, instead ah wait last minute,” Garcia said.