‘Bomber’ Theodore dies

EX-NATIONAL football defender Richard “Bomber” Theodore died at the Port-of-Spain General Hospital at 5 am on Saturday, after suffering from a fever for the past week. The 32-year-old Carenage resident and member of the  Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force was unable to restore full consciousness after falling ill last Monday. Theodore was a regular member of the national football team  until he was partially paralysed after a fall from a tree during St  Peter’s Day celebrations in Carenage on June 29, 1997.

After recovering from a coma, Theodore spent years undergoing therapy from the Army instructors before he was re-admitted to the regiment where he was later promoted to Lance Corporal. Theodore was a member of the national Under-20 team under coach Bertille St Clair at the World Youth Cup in Portugal in 1991, the first Caribbean team ever to reach a world champion-ship series. Commenting on Theodore’s death, Defence Force coach and ex-Strike Squad midfielder Hutson “Barber” Charles said: “He was one of the better defenders we ever produced and, barring the accident, I felt he had a chance to play outside (overseas).”