THE SIGHT of Fitzroy Guisseppi tumbling from the yellow metal chair at ringside will, for a long time, remain fresh in the minds of the many boxing fans that witnessed his dying moments during a boxing card in Portmore on Saturday night.
He would have been 56 years old on April 2.
Zealously cheering on his boxer Camion Goldson from the red corner, the Trinidad-born trainer never got a chance to celebrate the youngster's victory as he collapsed at 8:28 p.m., midway the bout.
The fight was the second on the Guinness Stout-sponsored seven-fight programme organised by the Jamaica Boxing Board of Control, and hosted by Ken's Wildflower Lounge under the theme "Fight Night at the Wildflower".
Fans standing nearby rushed to Guisseppi's assistance and took him inside the competitors' warm-up tent where he was attended to by Dr Gerard Christian, who after examining the by then limp and ashen trainer, concluded he had a heart attack.
No ambulance was at the venue and a patron's vehicle was used to transport the trainer to the Spanish Town Hospital some 15 minutes later where the doctor on duty there pronounced him dead some time after 9:00 p.m.
Said former world heavyweight boxing champion, Mike McCallum, who was a guest at the event:
"When I heard he died I was shocked, overwhelmed.
"I learnt a lot from watching him and believe me, it's rough that this has happened. Just today we were speaking and he told me how much he enjoyed doing this for the kids. Giving back much of what he had learnt and getting that feeling of satisfaction from seeing them do well."
Information gleaned from the web site Encarta and on-line sources state that about one third of heart attacks, known to doctors as myocardial infarction, are fatal. However, patients who receive immediate medical attention when symptoms develop have a good chance of surviving.
C.A.
