By Latrishka Thomas
The family of police officer Clarence Cameron who died following an accident earlier this month, is seeking to raise funds to assist the mother of five of his children – the passenger who was badly injured in the crash.
Cameron died after he reportedly lost control of his vehicle on the All Saints Road just before midnight on August 3.
He was removed from the mangled vehicle and rushed to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the Sir Lester Bird Mount St John’s Medical Centre where he later succumbed to his injuries.
Cameron’s sister, Ann-Marie Julian, said the female passenger, Denise Horsford, has remained in hospital since, and in need of surgery.
She told Observer that, “Denise Horsford who we call ‘Tamie’, she is the mother of five of his children and she is in ICU and she is in need of immediate surgery to do some corrections to her spine and she also has a broken leg and those are the concerns right now to get her mobile again.”
She continued, “But she has other internal injuries that they are going to deal with, but those are the ones that I know for sure that they are trying to deal with.”
Julian said that she and her father, Ewen Cameron, set up a GoFundMe account for Horsford called “Help Tamie back to health for their 5 children” with a goal of raising US$56,000.
However, they have not yet received the full quotation for the cost of Horsford’s medical care.
“Well, her sister did not get a figure more or less from Mount St John’s [Medical Centre] but another outside surgeon said the amount for her spine alone is $100,000 and for her leg it’s $50,000 and they need to do the surgeries simultaneously,” Julian shared.
Horsford has since been moved out of the ICU and onto the surgical unit.
Meanwhile, the family of the deceased police officer said they are awaiting the post-mortem report in order to set a date for his funeral.
The distraught sister said that both Clarence’s blood relatives and his police family are still in a state of shock because of his death.
“It is just unbelievable. I understand if it was a case where he was ill and we could expect anything at any moment. It’s just a sudden shock for everybody, and everybody who knows him knows the jovial person he is.
“I mean he’s the life of the party. There is never a dull moment around him, so he is greatly missed. It’s just for us to accept that this is reality and try to comfort each other,” she lamented.
Anyone who wishes to donate to Horsford’s medical care is asked to contact Ann-Marie Julian at 771-7147, Ava Elabanjo at 464-1524, or Ewen Cameron at 407-625-2523.