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Press Release: Antigua is preparing to host international scientists, conservationists and celebrities at the first Antigua Open Lionfish Tournament Nov 18-20th, capped with a festival in Nelson’s Dockyard on Nov 20th from 1:00 pm until 5:00 pm. A diverse group of experts make up what the group’s organizer Martha Watkins Gilkes, calls her “A-Team.”

The team’s spokesperson and outreach lead is Mehgan Heaney-Grier, a pioneer and record-breaking freediver, media personality, and explorer.  Mehgan grew up in the Florida Keys, and at just 19 years old blazed a trail for freediving in the U.S. by establishing the first U.S. record for both men and women in the constant weight category with a dive to 155ft.

The tales of her exploits spread quickly – an American teenager and professional model doing what were considered at the time to be “daredevil stunts”, and in a male dominated extreme sport.  It made for catchy headlines. Mehgan has been featured in major media outlets including USA Today, Life, People, and Outside Magazine, to name just a few. With her record dives she catapulted her sport to new heights, not only setting records, but pushing boundaries and breaking through stereotypes – one of her proudest accomplishments.

Since then, she has done what most only dream of – stunt diving in movies that included Pirates of the Caribbean, appearing as a guest on Late Night with David Letterman, graced the cover of magazines and starred on the Discovery show Treasure Quest: Snake Island.  She was also honored as an inaugural inductee of the Women Divers Hall of Fame – still the youngest person ever inducted into the organization – and is a Fellow in the prestigious Explorers Club.

Mehgan’s work in ocean conservation started with expeditions that featured her in close encounters with dangerous animals.  In 2000, people around the world watched her freedive with alligators and sharks on an Animal Planet series called Extreme Contact. But while revealing our misconceptions about these animals, she was also a keen observer of the disturbing declines in the condition of oceans around the world, including her home reefs in the Florida Keys.

She became dedicated to motivating people to take action. Now she lectures, educates, and creates content for social media and television. One current project, a web video series called The Imperfect Conservationist, empowers people to live more sustainably with easy, affordable, and impactful tips they can incorporate into their daily lives.

For the Lionfish Derby Project, Mehgan brings her conservation talents to Antigua, as part of Martha’s A-Team.

“Our team was built by Martha’s boundless energy and enthusiasm, and we’re here to do our small part in helping motivate people to take action to control an invasive species that could decimate the island’s lifeblood, its coral reefs.”

“We have scientists and conservation professionals who are experts in lionfish biology and ecology, some of the best hunters you can find, a social networking team, and people who have started small businesses around lionfish, including some jewelry makers who use caught fish to produce beautiful artwork, adding value to lionfish for the fishers who catch them.”

During the festival, Mehgan will be discussing her exciting and eclectic career, which has taken her from freediving and modeling to movies and television, and evolved into education, outreach, social media, and motivational speaking. Through it all, her messages on conservation and ways that individuals can make a difference have inspired hordes of followers and fans young and old.

You can meet Mehgan at the festival on November 20, and listen to her speak at 2:40 at Nelson’s Dockyard.

The Antigua Open Lionfish Tournament is made possible by the generous support of the Ministry of Tourism and the Honorable Minister Max Fernandez, Mill Reef Club as a platinum sponsor, Elite Island Resorts as a silver sponsor, and other island stakeholders, including: National Parks Authority, Fisheries, Coast Guard, local media, dive shops, fishermen, and others.   For further information, visit https://antigualionfish.com or contact [email protected].

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When Altia Atkinson, a 34-year-old housewife, from Reliance, Essequibo found out that she was pregnant earlier this year, she and her husband Satesh Persaud, a 41-year-old Carpenter, were elated.

Already a mother of five (5) healthy children, Alita anticipated an uncomplicated pregnancy and delivery was inevitable.

As Alita sought out prenatal care at her community Health Centre, her ultrasounds appeared normal and showed no cause for concern. It wasn’t until she was admitted for the delivery of her 6th baby that her ultrasound showed some irregularity – however, physicians at the Suddie Hospital were unable to determine if the mass/growth they were detecting was growing on Alita or her unborn child.

Following a caesarean section, Shailah Ariya Persaud was born on September 19, 2022, at Suddie Hospital and was immediately referred to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) on account of a malformation that presented as a second head.

Shailah Persaud with the malformation

Just a few days old, Shailah was reviewed by Chief Neurosurgeon, Dr. Amarnauth Dukhi, who quickly diagnosed little Shailah with a neural tube defect. After MRI scans of the brain and cervical spine was done, Dr. Dukhi confirmed a rare Cranio-Cervical Junction malformation, a combination of the neural tube defects of the brain and spine as one, a Myelomeningocele-encephalocele occurring at the back of the head where the brain joins the spinal cord.

While neural tube defects are quite a common birth defect, they usually occur on the head or the spine separately – in fact, the occurrence of encephalocele and myelomeningocele together as one defect in the same patient is rarely described in medical literature.

In these uncommon cases the neural tube defect presents as sac-like protrusions on the brain and spine and are caused by the failure of the neural tube to close completely during foetal development, which may be attributed to several internal and external factors, mainly lacking the use of Folic Acid during pregnancy.

The management of encephalocele and myelomeningocele is often associated with numerous challenges including blood loss, cardio-respiratory disturbances and hypothermia. Surgical intervention is critical for prevent hemodynamic fluctuations and excessive pressure on the sac which may result in premature rupture and eventual death.

Neurosurgeon Dr Amarnauth Dukhi with Shailah and her parents after the surgery

On the 30th of September, Chief Neurosurgeon, Dr Dukhi led a multi-disciplinary team at GPHC to separate this large malformation and repair the defect at the junction where brain and spinal cord are joined.

This tedious and complicated medical intervention for Shailah commenced firstly with the placement of VP shunt for the developing Hydrocephalus that was also diagnosed. The large malformation/mass, the size of the normal head was then carefully separated from the head and upper cervical spine. This was followed by the reconstruction of the cranio-spinal junction’s defect to prevent the leakage of cerebrospinal fluid and allow for normal development of brain and spinal structures. After the more than six (6) hour procedure, Dr. Dukhi and team deemed it a successful one.

Following seven (7) days of neonatal post-operative care, little Shailah was discharged into her mother’s arm without any obvious neurological deficits and is expected to lead normal childhood. Close monitoring will be done to determine any difficulty in the child’s developmental curve.

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Black Immigrant Daily News

Equipment failure is not acceptable in ground aviation activity, and if there is such failure back-up is a pre-requisite in order to provide the level of service demanded of Aircraft Ground Services, especially in fuel.

It is important that fuel supplies and equipment are foremost on the list of imperatives of any airport, especially where a small aircraft hub feeds from the wide body and long haul aircraft.

Clearly the frustration of air movement in the hub offered by Antigua airport as a result of Avgas fuel truck equipment failure, has cost connecting passengers and their carriers heavily, causing the efficiency of the airport hub to be questioned.

Avgas is unequally yoked to Private Aviation and the FBO,  which has the monopoly of Avgas dispensing on the airport. However, the slow period for Private Aviation is the busy period for small aircraft which use Avgas.

This however is no excuse to cause a ripple effect of inefficiency, embarrassing and upsetting the seamless transfers which are expected of a busy hub.

Montserrat has been so well served that their passengers to Antigua rely almost totally on air, as their ferry was discontinued.

Antigua is their hub for traveling anywhere commercially, and as a consequence of the inability to uplift fuel in Antigua, their airline is grounded.

Small aircraft which use Avgas, make up the majority of the feeder aircraft for our smaller sister islands, which have a large sector of the upmarket also are restricted.

It imperative that the link with the similar interests be maintained on location so that we do not have a repeat, where Avgas equipment failure immediately means failure and loss for the passengers, the Aircraft Operator, the Airlines by empty seats on all of those failed connections outbound – Avgas belongs on a commercial schedule, and not the private aircraft schedule.

The reason for this is that when Private Aviation fuel sales are on vacation, their trucks are on holiday routine, no wonder Avgas equipment is down.

Avgas must return to commercial operations on the main Terminal in order to best serve the small aircraft hub at V.C.Bird International Airport.

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Crime Scene Unit investigators at the scene of a murder in Idlewild, Tobago on Friday night. – David Reid

A Scarborough man is Tobago’s latest murder victim.

He has been identified as Deon Daniel, of Idlewild Trace. Daniel was an employee of the THA Division of Health, Wellness and Social Protection.

Police said a relative found Daniel’s body at his home shortly after 8 pm on Friday. he had been chopped.

There are initial reports that he had an argument with some people earlier that day.

Scarborough police and Homicide detectives are investigating

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