An ambulance service will be on hand for the semi-finals and finals of the David Thompson Memorial Constituency Councils Football Classic.
This follows an incident on Saturday when Christ Church East Central goalkeeper Ramon Hackett suffered a concussion and had to wait 30 minutes for an ambulance to take him from the St Andrew venue to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
Tournament coordinator Mark “Bob” Forde gave the assurance of ambulance support in a telephone interview with MIDWEEK SPORT ahead of next weekend’s semifinals and the December 16 final.
“We had discussed [having an ambulance] and we went on to say we would have one on standby so I don’t want to say it was an oversight,” explained Forde, who said that each match has had police presence.
“What I can say is that we didn’t have any prior incidents at the other venues but this isn’t to say that we shouldn’t have had an ambulance at the venue.
“Fortunately we had one for the second game at Belleplaine and I can definitely say we will have one in Speightstown for the semifinals and for the final at Kensington,” he affirmed.
Hackett has since been released from hospital and is reported to be recovering well following the scary incident at Belleplaine during a quarterfinal between Christ Church East Central and St Michael South Central.
The Christ Church goalie lay motionless on the ground for half an hour after suffering a concussion via a violent collision with an opposing player, forcing the game to be delayed for over an hour.
Hackett subsequently regained consciousness and was taken to the hospital upon the eventual arrival of a QEH ambulance.
Christ Church East Central went on to lose 4-2 on penalties after the game was locked 1-1 at the completion of regulation and extra time. (JM)
