Hector “Macho” Camacho was clinging to life Wednesday after being shot in the face while in a car, with doctors and his family expected to decide whether to remove the former boxing champion from life support.
Doctors initially had said the 50-year-old Camacho was in critical but stable condition and expected to survive after he was shot Tuesday night in his hometown of Bayamon. His condition worsened overnight, however, and his heart stopped at one point, said Dr. Ernesto Torres, director of the Centro Medico trauma center in San Juan.
“The situation with Macho is very delicate,” Torres told reporters during a media briefing on Wednesday. “The prognosis is not good.”
He said the hospital’s team of doctors were trying to determine the boxer’s level of brain activity.
“We just have to wait to see if Macho gets better. It’s a hard battle,” friend and former manager Ismael Leandry told The Associated Press.
Torres said Camacho’s mother, Maria Matias, spent about 20 minutes with her son, one of the most dynamic boxing personalities of his era, and was expected to return for a second visit on Wednesday night.
She is expected to decide whether Camacho should be taken off life support based on the results of further tests due Wednesday. Torres said encephalographic tests would determine whether Camacho is brain dead. Torres said Camacho’s son, Hector Camacho Jr., is due to arrive in Puerto Rico on Wednesday night.
“His mother came and she is devastated,” he said. “She knows the prognosis is not at all favorable.”
A godson, Widniel Adorno, said the family has discussed the possibility of organ donation but no final decision has been made.
Camacho was outside Azuquita Liquor Store in a parked Ford Mustang with a friend when he was shot in the face. The friend, identified as 49-year-old Adrian Mojica Moreno, was killed. Police said two assailants fled in an SUV but no arrests have been made and no motive has been disclosed.
Mojica Moreno’s relationship to Camacho wasn’t immediately known, but on Wednesday detective Alex Diaz told ESPN.com that Mojica Moreno had nine bags of cocaine in his possession with an open 10th bag in the vehicle, which was registered to Mojica Moreno. He had been arrested for possession of controlled substances in April, according to Diaz.
(STORY CONTINUES AT ESPN)
