Shot teen: I wanted to get home to my KFC

Joshua Faltine, a 15-year-old boy, who was shot while travelling in a maxi taxi near to the Beetham Gardens last Saturday, is expected to be discharged from hospital today.

While the young boy will survive the ordeal, he did not escape completely unscathed. The bullet, which hit him in the chest, is still lodged in a bone in his chest area. Doctors told the young boy and his family that removing the bullet from his chest would do more harm than good.

His mother, Ophelia, told Newsday she is gathering paperwork and seeking legal advice for the teenager to be compensated for his injury.

Newsday spoke with the teen yesterday while his mother and relatives visited him at the Eric Williams Medical Science Complex. At the hospital, the teenager who was fighting for his life less than a week ago, seemed to be in high spirits and said he could not wait to be discharged and get back to his home and family.

The boy said he was in so much shock when the shooting started, he did not even know he was hit by one of the stray bullets.

Faltine, a form four student of South East Secondary, who lives in Barataria, said he left home on Saturday afternoon to go to Movie Towne to get something to eat. He said he visited the movie complex, went to KFC for a meal of fried chicken and chips and then boarded a maxi taxi to head home. He said he noticed something was wrong when he saw all the lights along the highway were blown.

“We were passing through Beetham and we were getting close to Fernandez compound when all of a sudden we just started to hear shots. Everyone in the maxi shouted ‘Get down! Everybody duck!’ so I ducked. My chicken and chips fell to the floor. The driver started to slow down and then people started panicking even more and yelled at him to drive, so he drove faster. I was picking up my box of food when I realised I was bleeding. I was in shock. I could not even feel the bullet in my chest. All I was thinking about was reaching home. I just wanted to go home and eat my KFC.” the boy said.

The teenager was taken to the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex in a critical condition. He was dropped off at the entrance of the hospital, and another passenger had to take him to the emergency room for doctors to take care of him.

Doctors stabilised him, and kept him under observation for the majority of the week.