Camacho's family considers removing life support

USA Today


Photo: Former world boxing champion Hector "Macho" Camacho is taken by paramedics into a medical center in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
(Photo: Sebastian Perez AP)

7:03PM EST November 21. 2012 - SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico â€" Hector "Macho" Camacho was clinging to life Wednesday after being shot in the face while sitting in a car, with doctors and his family expected to decide whether to remove the former boxing champion from life support.

Doctors initially said Camacho was in critical but stable condition and was expected to survive after he was shot Tuesday night in his hometown of Bayamon. But his condition worsened overnight and his heart stopped at one point, said Dr. Ernesto Torres, director of the Centro Medico trauma center in San Juan.

"He's battling minute to minute. This is the most important fight of his life," Torres told the Associated Press outside the hospital in the Puerto Rican capital.

The 50-year-old Camacho was shot as he and a friend sat in a Ford Mustang parked outside a bar. Police spokesman Alex Diaz said officers found nine small bags of cocaine in the friend's pocket and a 10th bag open inside the car.

Torres said doctors were trying to determine the boxer's level of brain activity.

The specialists will consult with other doctors and Camacho's mother, who flew in Wednesday from New York, to discuss whether he should be removed from life support, said Ismael Leandry, a longtime friend and former manager who was at the hospital.
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