From nearly dying in a car accident to trying to save a life

At 7a.m. on the morning of January 12, Laurie Havens and her friend Kimberly Ferraro had just landed at the Placencia, Belize airport for a vacation of a lifetime. The seasoned travellers have vacationed in similar countries before and felt comfortable as they crossed the street to pick up their rental vehicle they booked through Budget and a well-known travel site.

After signing the rental paperwork, loading up the SUV with their luggage, and turning on their preferred playlist, the two friends hit the open road. Around two hours into the drive Havens said she remembered feeling tired but didn’t think anything of it as they had just had a long flight. “I was in and out. Then I remember feeling things hit the vehicle, but I couldn’t open my eyes to see what was going on. I know I didn’t brace myself because I was half conscious, but I could feel the pain,” said Havens.

The women left the roadway and careened down an embankment landing 50 feet below. The front of the vehicle was positioned on a rock ledge about four feet off the ground and the back had water halfway up the window. They were alive but in serious trouble. The culprit? Carbon monoxide had leaked into their vehicle and rendered them unconscious.

Within about 15 minutes their doors were opened by locals who had witnessed the accident. With oxygen flooding the interior of the SUV, the women started to regain consciousness. “I could see the smoking air bag in front of me. I could see that my friend had blood all over her face and that she was looking back at me in a daze,” recalled Havens.

“They called for an ambulance and were trying to keep us calm. They were very nice and helped us get safely up to the road. They lined the embankment and put out their hands to help me up.” Their suitcases that had been at the back of the vehicle were now just behind their seats. “The suitcases crushed the seats behind us and had they hit any higher they would’ve hit us in the back of the head,” she added.

The friends were transferred to a nearby hospital for basic care. Both Havens and Ferraro are nurses and knew the healthcare available would be very different than what they were used to in Canada. Many items that would be considered single use here are reused there and it isn’t clean. However, staff do their very best under difficult circumstances.

At one point, Havens got up to go to the bathroom and saw a young boy being brought into the hospital. She learned later that his name was Jamil Reyes and that he was only 15 years old. “They brought him into our room and since I was off my stretcher, they put him on mine. He was covered in blood and I was so scared for him. He had been shot in the head and I remember thinking, how could he possibly survive this?”

They watched as the staff did all they could to save his life. Before they could find out more, the women were transferred to a private hospital. Within 36 hours of their accident the two friends were back on Canadian soil and surrounded by loved ones, but neither could get the young boy out of their heads. “I had dropped a pin on my map when we were at the hospital so that my boyfriend knew where we were. With that I was able to find the hospital which then led me to a news site which had a story on him.”

The news article stated that he had been viciously beaten, shot in the head, buried in a shallow grave, and left for dead. Somehow, he was able to muster the strength to crawl out, get himself to a neighbouring house to get help and, most shockingly, he was still alive! “He wasn’t a drug dealer or involved in a gang. He was attacked while swimming in a creek near his home. He had been helping his mom cook lunch and then decided to go for a swim. The boys that did it to him are thought to have been after notoriety for doing such a crime. He is a victim.” Though still alive, he is in desperate need of surgery to remove the bullet from his brain. “He could potentially have a stroke or become paralyzed. The bullet continues to move,” said Havens.

Havens has since made it her mission to help him get the surgery he needs. “I don’t know how else he is going to get surgery. His mother has been cooking meals and selling them on the streets to raise money as his surgery will cost around $11,000 Belize which is at least $7,250 Canadian.” There is a GoFundMe set up by a family member but in one month it has only raised $535. Since setting up her Facebook Fundraiser on February 12, Havens has raised just over $3,500 and is almost halfway to what is needed. “I think we were meant to meet him and help him.”

Since returning home, both Havens and Ferraro have been slowly recovering from their injuries. Ferraro suffered a fractured humerus (arm) which was fractured in four different places. “She required a plate and eleven pins to hold it. She also fractured her coccyx. We also both have a large hematoma on our backsides and internal bleeding as we were very bruised in the abdominal/pelvis area. I fractured my sacrum, sternum, and six ribs,” said Havens. Both are grateful to be alive.

Havens recommends that anyone planning a trip to a different county bring along a portable carbon monoxide detector for use in a rental vehicle or hotel room. “It’s something I wont travel without now.” She also suggests getting extra travel insurance. “I had insurance on my Visa and Blue Cross and neither of them were accepted at the hospital. So, make sure you have a means to pay just in case something isn’t covered. I wouldn’t have received any care had I not had room to pay on another card.”

Another lesson learned was the importance of checking off the box on a rental vehicle contract. “If we didn’t checkmark the box for $22 a day then we would’ve been accountable to pay the third party who owned the vehicle. Budget didn’t own the car. They sub-lease the vehicles. The box is a disclaimer so make sure you check it.” She also suggests securing your luggage while travelling, just in case.

Havens will be holding an event on March 23 at the Whitecourt Golf and Country Club to help raise the remaining funds needed for Jamil’s surgery. It will be a Paint Nite fundraiser with silent auction, live music by Amber Stoby, wine and cheese, art show, and sale. Tickets are $60. For information on purchasing tickets for the event, donating towards the silent auction, or making a financial donation, please contact Laurie Havens on Facebook or by calling/texting her at 780-396-9877.