The banana, cocoa and mango trees around Milot often sport men balanced between the high branches, machete in hand, cutting off the ripe fruit.
With the national food scarcity, brought on by the effects of Hurricane Sandy, and for the average Haitian, stretching their average $1 a day income to feed a family, the fruit trees offer immeasurable bounty. Jean-Pierre had spent much of his 65 years harvesting fruit from the local trees.
Despite his expertise and natural agility, his injury free track record came to a crashing end when he slipped on moist bark and fell out of a tree, hitting a few branches on the way down.
His only injury – he thought – was a laceration on his upper thigh. After two days of increasing discomfort, Jean-Pierre visited the emergency department at Hôpital Sacré Coeur.
On examination, the attending physician probed the 2 ½ “deep wound and felt several foreign bodies. Jean-Pierre was whisked to the operating room and placed under general anesthesia.
When the surgeons performed wound exploration, much to their surprise, they discovered and removed several large wood chunks and even an intact leaf!
The largest wood chunk measured 4.7” long and 1.2” in diameter. A course of intravenous antibiotics was ordered to ward off infection, the wound closed and a drain left in place for 4 to 5 days.
Jean-Pierre’s fortuitous hospital visit paved the way to a full recovery and more opportunities to feed his family.
Had a medical facility not been available or had Jean-Pierre not trusted the medical staff, his outcome would have been tragic. The foreign bodies remaining inside his leg would have set up an infection that would not clear, even with antibiotics. His best case scenario would be a chronic non-healing, draining wound. Jean-Pierre’s worst case scenario would be sepsis (system wide infection) and eventual death.
