There is good news and bad news from Hopital Sacre Coeur.
The bad news is that many of our patients received are now much sicker with
infections because of their delayed treatment. The staff were up all
night Tuesday trying to save a 19 year old girl but unfortunately she did
not pull through. A 26 year old man is currently in critical condition, we
have put out a call for 2 ventilators and hopefully one will be arriving
with the Boston Caritas Christi Hospital group tomorrow and/or one from St
Louis. We are now determining how many additional internists and medical
people we will need to care for those with infectious diseases.
The good news is that of the 48 children, several of the girls aged between
5 and 7 who have had amputations and/or have casts on their legs began to
walk with their crutches for the first time today outside the “new hospital”
– the school across from the hospital building. There were lots of smiles
and lots of encouragement as they took their first steps. Kat, one of our
Haitian Nurse Practitioners walked with the girls through the mens ward
where many have had amputations and told them “See if the girls can do it,
you can do it!”. Our incredible volunteers are doing amazing work that
stretches beyond providing medical care. Currently there is a group from
Caritas Christi, one from St Louis and a medical orthopedic team from
Florida.
Another 14 patients were discharged today, we currently have 228 patients
and are expecting another 20 surgical cases tomorrow by helicopter.
The following is an excerpt from Dr Bill Guyol who arrived with a team of 12
from St Louis;
“Hello friends of the CRUDEM Foundation.Greetings from Milot, Haiti! We
arrived at the CRUDEM compound today. It is like coming home, but different
this time.The hospital and the town have been transformed.
The people here are exhausted; happy to see reinforcements. Most work 16-20
hour days, missing their meals, showers, beds. What they did here was
extraordinary. I cannot describe how valiantly this organization has
responded to this crisis.The number of people who dropped all job and family
responsibilities and rushed to Haiti restores my faith in mankind’s capacity
to love. This was a war – chaotic, bloody, full of human misery, stoicism,
inconsolable loss and heroic virtue.
We were greeted with the tears of volunteers on our arrival. They showed us
a young couple sitting on a mattress on the grass next to our residence.
Fr. Frank, a nurse from Boston and several of our staff were trying to
console them. Their beautiful 4 year old daughter had just died of tetanus.
My interpreter Patrick was crushed – she had called him Papa.
We need your help. There is an incredible story here that needs to be
told. We need your prayers but most importantly we need your money. This
type of expansion of our responsibilities comes at a great price – human and
monetary. Please spread this email to your friends and ask them to go to
www.crudem.org/give and support this mission.”
