On a quiet Tuesday evening in Belize’s Pomona Village, what began as an ordinary night shattered into chaos in mere seconds, leaving a promising young athlete clinging to life and his family begging for public support to save his future.
Just after 6:30 p.m., two gunmen riding motorcycles pulled up to a local business in the tight-knit community and opened fire. The bullets struck two people: 25-year-old Orlando Acosta, a star football player with the local Pomona Impact team, and a 16-year-old boy. Before bystanders could react, the attackers fled the scene, leaving the injured behind.
For Acosta, the violence has cut short a career on the rise. Outside of competitive football, the young man was an avid outdoor enthusiast who worked for Logan’s Ultimate Adventure Sea Tours, where he spent his free time kayaking and leading excursions for visitors. Today, he remains hospitalized at Belize’s Southern Regional Hospital in stable condition, but the damage from the shooting is severe: he has suffered fractures to his spine and pelvis, injuries that local surgeons say they do not have the specialized capacity to treat properly.
“We got the call out of nowhere that he had been shot, and we rushed him straight to the hospital,” Karen Westby, Acosta’s sister, explained in an interview with News Five reporter Britney Gordon. “Right now he’s stable, but the doctors here have told us they can’t give him the care he needs. We have to get him out of the country to get treatment.”
The family confirms Acosta was an innocent bystander caught in the crossfire. Authorities have stated they do not believe either Acosta or the 16-year-old victim were the intended targets of the attack, a conclusion the Acosta family echoes.
“Orlando is known by everyone in this village – everyone is friends or teammates here,” said Errol Acosta, Orlando’s brother. “He had no enemies, no trouble with anyone. This was just wrong place, wrong time. No one can make sense of it.”
Even as the family counts their blessings that Orlando survived the attack, they face a devastating financial barrier to saving his ability to walk and return to the life he loves. Local medical costs have already piled up, and the specialized surgical and rehabilitative care he needs will require travel to either Guatemala or Mexico – an expense the working-class family cannot cover on their own.
“Right now, our only priority is raising enough money to get Orlando overseas to get the help he needs,” Errol Acosta said. “We’re watching him fight, and we just need the community to stand with us.”
The tight-knit Pomona community has already begun rallying around the Acosta family, and the family has issued a public plea for any and all support from those willing to help. Members of the public who wish to contribute to Orlando’s medical fund can reach the family directly at 626-3280.