Marine boxer's family seeks medical info after his death

Family members are questioning whether a Marine from Bellmore who collapsed at a Camp Lejeune boxing gym and later died received sufficient medical care.

Lance Cpl. Libardo Anthony Jimenez Jr., 21, had complained of a headache before losing consciousness at the North Carolina Marine base on March 20, said Lejeune spokeswoman 1st Lt. Rachel Beatty. He died three days later at Pitt Memorial Hospital in Greenville, N.C., and was buried in East Farmingdale Friday.

Beatty said Jimenez, a member of Lejeune's All-Marine Boxing team, had been sparring during a workout shortly before passing out.

She said his cause of death is being investigated by the Naval Criminal Investigative Services, a routine procedure and not indicative of possible foul play. She added that base officials who could comment on his death were unavailable Friday due to the holiday weekend.

Jimenez's family has said he suffered a head injury during a sparring match about five weeks earlier. He had been given painkillers and was placed on several days' leave. "We don't know if he had a small thing that wasn't detected the first time," Jimenez's mother, Penny Palmer, told Newsday Friday.

The Mepham High School graduate served with the 3rd Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment in Anbar province, Iraq, from August to October. A funeral Mass was held Friday at St. Kilian Roman Catholic Church in Farmingdale. Jimenez was buried at nearby St. Charles Cemetery.

"Lance Cpl. Jimenez had great athletic ability and was a determined and focused boxer," his coach, Ron Simmons, said in the news release Friday. "As a teammate, he was very optimistic, willing to learn something new every day - always striving to do his best with no complaints."

Beatty said the Marines' boxing program is run under the rules of USA Boxing, the national governing body of Olympic-style amateur boxing.

According to the organization's Web site, trainers are warned to keep boxers who have suffered a prior concussion out of the ring until their brain has had a chance to heal.

Beatty said she could not obtain the specific guidelines the Marines boxing program uses to protect fighters, and said it remains to be determined whether multiple concussions led to his death. "There definitely are protocols in place," Beatty said. "But I don't know if we can draw any conclusions as to whether his death was boxing-related."

At a backyard picnic at Jimenez's Bellmore home following the funeral Friday, family and friends spoke of Jimenez's excitement at the prospect of joining the All-Marine Boxing program three months ago.

Penny Palmer, 41, said he was hit in the nose during the earlier sparring match, but doctors didn't order a CT scan despite his complaints of headaches.

"I just want to talk to the doctors and ask why his head injury didn't warrant a CAT scan."

Jimenez's uncle Ronald Palmer, 48, of Centereach also had questions. "We think maybe, possibly this tragedy could have been avoided if measures were taken."

Still, Jimenez's mother said she was glad her son died doing what he loved. "If he were here today and we had to relive the whole thing, I would still tell him to go for boxing," she said. "He was so happy to get into boxing."

Palmer said she last saw her son in February, when she visited Camp Lejeune to celebrate his 21st birthday. "He was my special boy," Palmer said with a sad smile. "When we were hanging out, we just clicked."