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W. Connection Football Club captain and goalkeeper Jan-Michael Williams, 27, will try to maintain his team’s Caribbean Club Championship hopes tonight while his fiancée, Candice Worrell, literally fights for her life at the St Clair Medical Centre in Port of Spain.
Worrell, a Health and Safety Officer at Jenexcon Engineering as well as a model and beauty queen, was brutally assaulted outside her work place in Montrose, Chaguanas between 5 pm and 5.25 pm on January 20 and is yet to regain consciousness. She should turn 29-years-old on February 8 but, according to Williams, doctors gave her just a 50 percent chance of surviving her injuries.
Williams, a member of Trinidad and Tobago’s 2001 Under-17 World Cup squad and the national senior team’s reserve goalkeeper, is distraught by the incident. The young couple lives together in Couva and has a 10-month-old daughter, Nevaeh—heaven spelt backward.
“If anyone in the world deserves this, I don’t think God will pick out Candice,” the W. Connection goalkeeper told Wired868. “Not that what happened to her… I’m trying to believe that everything will take care of itself in the end.”
Worrell, whose smile appears on Digicel billboards nationwide and was Trinidad and Tobago’s delegate for Miss Tourism Queen International 2009 in China, was found lying unconscious in a pool of blood, two weeks ago. Her jaw was broken in two places and her cheekbone was also shattered while doctors initially suspected brain damage.
Her white Blackberry Curve cellular phone and wallet were missing and presumed stolen. No one has been arrested as yet and Williams has not heard from the police since the incident.
Williams did his own investigating but is frustrated by conflicting reports from Worrell’s fellow employees as well as the workman of a neighbouring business who found her. Medical examination revealed that Worrell was not sexually assaulted and the footballer believes the assailant was scared off by a worker who went to investigate a strange noise.
Williams has been at his fiancée’s side daily although he rejoined his club in training on Saturday; after Worrell went into ICU and her permitted visiting hours were substantially reduced.
The south-based football club, who is fourth at present, needs at least a draw tonight and a minimum of four points from tonight’s game and Saturday’s clash with Police FC to have any chance of a top two finish and a spot in the 2012 Caribbean Club Championship.
Williams praised the support from his coach Stuart Charles-Fevrier and club owner David John-Williams—he is not related to his namesake—throughout the ordeal.
John-Williams lent his team captain a company vehicle since the catastrophe and the “Soca Warrior” has used it to shuttle between home and his fiancée’s bedside.
The goalkeeper wants to help his club, which is brimming with young talent, but admits that football is just a temporary distraction at the moment. He has no idea how he will prepare mentally for tonight’s contest against league leaders, T&TEC.
He knows that his fiancée faces a much more formidable challenge.
The goalkeeper remains bitterly dissatisfied with the work of the Chaguanas Police Station and the initial health care provided by Mt Hope General Hospital. However, he was effusive in his praise of the doctors and staff at St Clair.
Williams will not countenance anything but success for his beauty queen.
“Candice is the strongest person I know,” said Williams, who played professionally in Belgium and Hungary, “that is why I am convinced she will fight through this. She is a fighter…
“Everybody loves Candice. She is a real caring and friendly person.”
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Lasana Liburd is the managing director and chief editor at Wired868.com and a journalist with over 20 years experience at several Trinidad and Tobago and international publications including Play the Game, World Soccer, UK Guardian and the Trinidad Express.
I’m very distressed about this. My prayers are with Candace and her family. Let’s believe in the power of prayer!
This is so sad.
This is really sad, hope she regains consciousness. People could really be evil. Can't believe what this place has come too.
Our prayers are with Candice and her family and friends, but I agree with the comments that the apathy must end and citizens of Trinidad and Tobago must hold their government accountable – they have been elected by you for you, and must answer to you. That is what a democracy is about. And at the very least to have no response from the local police unit is utterly unacceptable, as is the continued pressure on the health services at Mt Hope. Where also is the public response to this heinous criminal act ? While these attacks become commonplace, they must not be accepted – someone always knows who the culprit is. May God look after Candice and bring this beautiful fighting woman back to her loved ones, anday those who do not act to repair this injustice be held accountable.
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How to respond to this story…with a prayer for Candice's recovery, and for the peole who love her, above all; also, with an even louder outcry for a more systematic and intelligent response to crime in this country; and with a demand for a fresh look to be taken at what has become of Mt. Hope since it was changed from a teaching hospital and thrown open to the general public for another. Mt. Hope was supposed to have been the flagship promoting first class health care in this country, and providing an environment in which young doctors can learn best practice. Istead, it's overcrowded and under-staffed, and that is part ofthe story of why there are so many instances where reports of inadequate health care continue to come in. Jan Michael is not alone in his distress about how somebody he loves was treated at Mt Hope, as we all know.
To "LetsMobiliseOurselves", Wired868 fully supports and endorses citizens' right to demand adequate representation from elected officials. Is the Chaguanas Mayor and the relevant MPs doing all in their power to ensure the safety of the borough's environs? Does the Chaguanas police see this as an urgent and sensitive matter? Wired868 is not done with this story yet but we are encouraged by such proactive responses and urge readers to make their voices heard.
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We need to hit the streets people!!!! Let's mobilize ourselves against crime and inadequate action of the authorities.
I'm so sorry.
Unbelievably sad!!! Where are we in TnT going and what do we hope to achieve with this kind of sub-human behaviour. I know she will make a full recovery.
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This is so sad. You are in my prayers. God will take u out of this. We must trust GOD COMPLETELY*
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So sad. I really hope that she recovers soon… Candice, you are in my prayers.
This is just really terrible. I don't even know how to respond to this story.