End nears for shot boxer Hector 'Macho' Camacho
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SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — The mother of Hector "Macho" Camacho says she has decided to have doctors cut off life support for the former world champion boxer Saturday once three more of his sons get a last chance to see him.
Though opposed by Camacho's eldest son, Maria Matias, the boxer's mother, said she had decided it was time for doctors to disconnect the machines that have kept him alive since he was shot in the face earlier in the week.
"I lost my son three days ago. He's alive only because of a machine," Matias said. "My son is not alive. My son is only alive for the people who love him," she added.
She said at a news conference Friday night that she was waiting only for Camacho's three other sons, who were expected to arrive from the U.S. mainland early Saturday. "Until they arrive, we will not disconnect the machine," Matias said.
Another news conference was scheduled for Saturday morning at Centro Medico, the main trauma center for San Juan.
The former champion's mother has the final say in the matter, but his eldest son, Hector Camacho Jr., said he wanted to keep his father alive.
"He's going to fight until the end. My father is a boxer," the son said.
Although doctors had said Camacho was clinically brain dead from a shooting Tuesday night in his hometown of Bayamon, relatives and friends told The Associated Press they were still wrestling with the idea of removing him from life support.
"It is a very difficult decision, a very delicate decision," former pro boxer Victor "Luvi" Callejas, a longtime friend, said in a phone interview. "The last thing we lose is hope and faith. If there is still hope and faith, why not wait a little more?"
Aida Camacho, one of the boxer's aunts, said in an interview that the family could decide by late Friday whether to donate his organs.owed in for Camacho's family and preparations were being made for memorials and a funeral Mass.
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