Sunday morning, on the island of La Gonave, a large truck carrying 20 passengers went off the road and crashed killing 2 and injuring 12 others. MAF was called to do an emergency medivac flight to transport the 4 most critically injured patients to Port au Prince. We had just finished church when my phone rang, calling me to go down to the airport to fly 1 of the 2 planes going to La Gonave. I felt like I was working for the Chilliwack Fire Department again as i rushed to get dressed into my pilot uniform, and hurried down to the airport. Once I had landed at La Gonave, I realized that the entire village had come out to the airstrip to help / watch. A huge mob of Haitians surrounded my plane as i struggled to open the door.
Shortly after I landed, a small pickup truck came speeding onto the airstrip carrying the patients in the back. It didn't take me long to realize that this was La Gonave's ambulance.
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I helped load the 2 patients into my plane, and then the rest into the 2nd plane
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This 18 minute flight is saving these 2 women (along with the others) countless hours of travel by boat across the open ocean to Port au Prince.
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Flying back to Port au Prince.
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After waiting quite some time for an ambulance, and realizing that it wasn't going to show up, arrangements were made to transport them from the airport to the hospital with a pickup truck. It wasn't until it arrived that i realized how much we take ambulances for granted in North America!
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Helping with loading the patients in the back of the truck.
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Finally after we loaded them in the back of the "ambulance", they discovered that it wouldn't start. They lifted the hood and tinkered with it for a good 15 minutes before they got it to start, and sped off towards the hospital.
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Through this experience, I am once again reminded of how valuable the service of MAF is here in Haiti. Countless Haitians depend on the wings of MAF to provide food, medicine, transportation, and medical evacuations each year, and I praise the Lord that I am able to be apart of this wonderful ministry!
Incredible!
ReplyDeleteOh and on another note... we really like your hair.... suits you!
ReplyDeleteWow! I'm sure it was very frustrating waiting for the ambulance to show up, and then having the pickup truck break down. We certianly do take the medical care here for granted!
ReplyDeleteThat seems rather unreal to us. We wouldn't even know how to begin "tinkering" with the truck to get it started....
ReplyDeletePraying for you all! We really enjoy reading all about your life, even though we seldom have time to leave a message since Charity was born (it's so hard to type properly with one hand - I have to limit my typing, but I can read!)
Things REALLY are different. No rubber gloves or worries over cleanliness! Yikes, what a day you had. What a great ministry for you.
ReplyDeleteWow, what an experience! yes we do take much too much for granted, that's for sure. We thank God for people like you who are out there helping these people in their needs.
ReplyDeleteWe hope tomorrow will be a more restful Sunday, and we wish you a blessed and happy birthday!
greetings from Uncle C & Aunt J