Text and email messages re: Dan in Haiti

Saturday January 16 2010 2:06 pm
It looks like Dan may be going to Haiti with the church tomorrow. If you want to contribute any funds he can take them. He would be going and setting up a clinic in Guesno's LDS Church. It isn't for sure. Still working on details. We'll keep you posted. Kristin

Saturday January 16, 3:??
"I'm going!"

Sunday January 17, 3-5 pm at the airport
Check pictures below (I can't figure out how to drag and drop them into place!)

Monday January 18 2010 5:29 pm  Text from Dan
Love all you guys...thanks for supporting me...don't know when I can be back in touch...God bless! Dan

Monday January 18 2010 9:09 pm
Yahoo! Daniel made it to Santo Domingo. They are gathering their bgs and hopping on a bus and some truck to journey through the night to PAP. Dan said he was interviewed on the plane by CNN International. The interview was conducted in Spanish. They woke him to do the interview. He said he felt groggy and had a hard time remembering words. I wonder if we can find that online. Also, as silly as this sounds, minutes ago Guesno accepted me as a friend on facebook. I was able to send him a privat message that Dan was coming with the LDS group hopefully to one of their churches. Guesno is very connected with the church officials in Haiti. I am hopeful that hee can connect with Dan. We are hoping he may have info on Matt and Gabe's birth parents as well. A kind of sad/hopeful story...Gabe came running in the kitchen yelling, "Mom, Mom". I said what's wrong. He said he was walking through my room and saw a woman on CNN. He said, "I saw Monique. It looked just like her." We ran to the room but the CNN story was over. (Monique is his birth mother) I did have someone email me from the missing person site. He/she said they saw a woman on CNN that had a shirt on like the one in the photo I posted of Monique. I will look into it. Thanks for all of your support. Love, Kristin

Monday January 18 2010 1:27 pm  Marcia sent this quote in email
"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy" Martin Luther King, Jr. (very applicable to my brother Dan!) Marcia

Monday January 18 2010 12:08 pm  Email from Kristin
Hi,

I just got a call from Daniel. He is still in Florida. The plan at the moment is to leave around 3:00 or 4:00. Here are some tidbits of our conversation. It is a bit fragmented as I don't have a lot of details, just basic facts.

The military is controlling the airport a PAP. The planning is very "fluid". They are now on Plan F. There is a wealthy man from St. George who is supplying helicopters and transportation to various groups trying to help in Haiti. Logistically it is


Monday January 18 2010 2:17 pm
Dan is on the way from Ft Lauderdale to the Miami airport. Their confirmed flight will be taking them into Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic. They will then be transported by helicopter or trucks in to Haiti. They shouldn't have any trouble getting through the border as they are a humanitarian group. Unfortunately, the fuel truck is still being held up. Some of the difficulties have been being a group of 20 people with 88 large bags. Do the math. Some doctors are elderly and can't carry as much as others

Dan says they haven't wasted a second of their delay time. They have organized themselves into teams and planned for all different scenarios (staying together, separating into two groups or more). Dan's group at the moment is Dr. Jeremy Booth from McKay Dee and Liz / who is a nurse practitioner who works for the church. There has been some talk of separating and going to the Red Cross sites in need of docs. But Dan says he would be surprised if they didn't stay together as there is safety in numbers. They don't have anyone to protect them. They have heard that it is pretty safe and only gets scary at nighttime.

Evidently, they do have sedatives and pain killers. Dan said, "We can do a lot of good with what we've got."

Communication in Haiti is spotty. The church leaders (Stake Presidents and up) have satellite phones. Cell coverage isn't great. TMobile seems to be better than most. That is what they will have on the blackberry phones they will be given for communication.

I will receive probably only one more update. Dan says he will call when he leaves Miami. Love Kristin

Monday January 18 2010 3:56 pm
Okay. We're ticketed to Santo Domingo and will bus overnight to PAP. Dan

Monday January 19 2010 5:24 am Almost there
Dan has been texting me all night with updates. Here they are...
8:36 "Landed in Santo Domingo.
12:31 We're making good time to border...it's a bit surreal...I would have thought there'd by convoys of stuff going on in to PAP on this road, but there is little traffic. I don't know if that's a good sign or not.
3:39 Near border...everyone is pretty beat...bumpy ride all night in cramped quarters

4:05 Waiting to cross border, lots of trucks now.

4:50 Through border...I think we're headed to chapel in Petionville. So far so good!!!

Dan says you can follow his group on Twitter@flashbrandt. You can also follow news about the group on http://mormontimes.com/.


Monday January 19 2010 8:23 am Might be going somewhere other than Petionville now...roads are pretty bad..lots of toppled buildings...not sure where we're going to end up...Maybe central chapel.

Monday January 19 2010 11:17 am At central chapel but we are going somewhere else I guess...frustrating.

Monday January 19 2010 1:09 pm Destruction everywhere...we are slammed...really helping...yes! Will call when I can.

Monday January 19 2010 2:35 pm Just gave Guesno a big hug...he was driving by and saw me! he was in a hurry, but he knows where i am... Only talked for about 30 sec. At Croix DES bouquets church. I don't know for how long.

Monday January 19 2010 4:29 pm I can't call out...I'm safe...Plans are still unfolding...sounds like the chapels are swamped at night and so we will be sleeping somewhere else at night, lds compound or something...and seeing people at chapels or other sites during daylight...We say around 100 patients in about 1 hour just out of our bags this afternoon when we stopped at a church...we're dying to get full clinic set up and rocking! (All very tired after nearly 48 hours on tap tap like travel.

Tuesday January 19 2010 2:43 pm I'm safe...we've saved lives already! Pray and do for Haiti...bonafide disaster here...I'm so sorry for the Haitians. Mostly we are seeing broken bones, crush injuries and infections (abscesses). Bodies still all around. Seems like every other building is pancaked...still a lot of folds that can be saved and/or helped. (texting is working from current locale but not calls). Dan

Tuesday January 19 2010 5:02 pm We have 2 trauma surgeons and 2 orthopedists going to the hospital tomorrow. The rest of us are opening a clinic. We are doing our best to match our skills with needs... Dan

Tuesday January 19 2010 5:15 pm Everywhere is need and chaos. When I (Linda) asked him where he was he said "I really don't know where I am right now... I'm getting in a tent and grabbing some sleep. Bye. Dan to Linda


Tuesday January 19 2010 7:10 pm signing off: phone off for 8 hours or so. Dan to Linda


Tuesday January 19 2010 7:42 pm Dan says via texts from Dan. 6:52 Haiti time "Plan for tomorrow: surgeons are going to hospital. ER doc and Fam prac are setting up clinics in del mar ward. there is need everywhere, it's a shame we need to sleep, but we need strength to do the job. I plan to be in bed in an hour. I will try to text Guesno (Bishop now made assistant to the Mission President. He and Marjory run the orphanage) about where I'll be. Will you try too? I asked him where he was sleeping? "tent" I asked him what town or location? "I'm not sure. Hehind a walled compound, outskirts of pap." "Signing off: phone off for 8 hours." Tomorrow should be eventful. I'll keep you posted. Kristin

Wednesday January 20 2010 10:00 am Some of you may have heard that there was a 6.1 aftershock this morning in Haiti. Daniel and all the docs are ok. (Some of his group have been helicoptered to a field hospital. They are ok too.) Dan said he was sleeping outside and all the others ran outside. He says he doesn't trust any building he can't run out of fast. He is in PAP (Port au Prince) andwere heading to the church. He said it is frustrating to get anywhere. Thanks for your support, Kristin

Wednesday January 20  Linda starts blogspot
Dear Family and Friends,

These are sites where you can find stories about Haiti:
http://www.mormontimes.com/ Writer from Deseret News, Scott Taylor is with Daniel and the LDS Humanitarian mission in Haiti
http://twitter.comflashbrandt/ This guy must be with the group
http://twitter.com/dipnote Has info on what Hillary Clinton is doing for the orphans
http://winnandlinda.blogspot.com/ I will work on updating our blog!!
http://www.connect2utah.com/ lots of news re: Humanitarian Team
http://www.ksl.com/
http://www.livesayhaiti.blogspot.com/
http://www.healinghandsforhaiti.org/

www.maryannfuhriman@msn.com Info re: Email Mary re: Crutches

Thanks for your continued prayers.

Love you lots,

Linda
 
 
Thursday January 21, 3:11 pm  Story is posted re: Guesno and Marjory and Kidnapped son
 
This article is about our orphanage director. It doesn't mention it in the article, but his mother was also killed in the quake. This wonderful family has suffered so much, yet they continue to work endlessly to protect the children and get them home. My friend's husband is a doctor working in Haiti with a group from the church. He was there when this interview was done and he said Guesno was just sobbing.

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705360078/Grief-started-with-kidnapping.html

Haitian man's grief started with son's kidnapping
By Scott Taylor
Deseret News
Published: Thursday, Jan. 21, 2010 3:11 p.m. MST

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — For most Haitians, their current state of extreme pain and suffering started in the moments following the horrific Jan. 12 earthquake. But for a counselor in the Haitian LDS Mission presidency, Guesno Mardy, heartbreak began Dec. 6, the day his 2-year-old son, Gardy, was kidnapped.

The earthquake and its aftershocks have only escalated his uncertainties and delayed any hopeful resolution.

Over the past six weeks, Mardy has ridden the wildest of the proverbial roller coasters — beginning with the kidnapping of his son.

Then came the earthquake and its immediate impact on his family and his two (actually 3) orphanages. He watched the building that housed his administration offices and employees — including his wife, Marjorie — collapse with the victims inside. He worried about the condition of his 225 "children," orphans cared for by his Foyer de Sion adoption agency in Port-au-Prince and Leogane.

His wife was spared, despite being caught in a collapsed building. All the children at Foyer de Sion are safe and accounted for.

And yet 2-year-old Gardy remains missing, with the date of his third birthday, Jan. 25, quickly approaching.

"It will be very hard that day if we don't get him," Mardy said. "It will be very sad for us."

Shortly after his toddler disappeared, Mardy received a phone call demanding $150,000 for the safe return of his son. The call came from a phone number that he recognized as belonging to a former employee from several years back, but it wasn't the voice of the man who used to work for him.

Over three days, Mardy scrambled to raise a meager fraction of the money — just $4,000 — admitting that $150,000 is an impossible sum for him to ever consider gathering.

Since Gardy is also an American citizen, the FBI was called in and spent a week in Haiti following leads and interviewing the former employee, who was considered a prime suspect. They turned the man over to Haitian authorities and left, while the man was imprisoned during the ongoing investigation.

But the earthquake damaged prisons, and many prisoners either escaped or were released from unstable buildings. The suspect in the Mardy case is back free on the island, and the priority given the investigation by the police dropped astronomically given the death, starvation and thirst blanketing the island nation in the quake's aftermath.

And still no word about Gardy.

But another family member lost and feared dead — Marjorie, the wife and mother of his six children — is alive and well.

She and nine others were in the Foyer de Sion's downtown administrative offices when the Jan. 12 quake severely damaged the building. Mardy, who was in a yard nearby, rushed to the site, trying to reach her by cell phone.

But he could only watch as the building collapsed even more.

"I called her dead when I first heard the news," he said, adding, "I called her dead. I knew I lost my wife."

But soon he heard a familiar voice from the rubble, saying, "Mardy. Mardy. I'm here. I'm not dead."

It took several hours to extract his wife, who had suffered leg, ankle and feet injuries while being trapped. Three other people inside — Mardy's sister, his wife's brother and a close friend — were not so lucky, all perishing in the destroyed building.

Mardy was overjoyed to learn that of the 225 children between the ages of 1 month and 15 years in Foyer de Sion's care, all were safe.

So for Mardy, there are reasons to smile, but smiling is hard when your youngest child is missing for going on two months.

"Sometimes you smile," Mardy said, "but it's not the normal kind of smile. We all have some sort of pain.

"Hopefully, we can find my son alive, that we can be together and sharing the joy every day of the gospel," said Mardy, who has twice served as bishop for a ward of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and once as a branch president.

A member of the Fontamara Ward, he currently is a counselor in the Haiti Port-au-Prince Mission presidency.

Despite the pain and suffering, Mardy tries to march on.

"I have to be courageous," he said. "When I cry, I have to cry outside the home."

It's not the only thing he does outside his house. When other family members go to bed, he heads outside, unable to feel comfortable with the whereabouts of his son still unknown.

"I can't sleep in the house," Mardy said. "As a father with a missing son, you can't sleep. It's constant trauma."









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Thursday January 21 in the evening  Kristin tells about telephone call from Dan
 
Hello,


So....Pete (Dan's partner at Alpine Family Medicine), Michelle, Hannah and I were at an Hale Center play.... (which was very good). At the very end when everyone was clapping I feel my phone vibrating, looked down to see that it is Dan. Wow, I couldn't have been more excited. We had tried to call each other before, but to no avail. We had a good long talk. Here are some of the highlights.

The first thing he was very excited about and also very emotional about was the removal of 12 broken femur patients to the U.S. Comfort. I think 5 of them were children. One of Dan's jobs today at the "Sacred Heart" hospital is to assess the patients outside. A boy asked him to come look at his brother who had two broken femurs and his cousin who had a broken femur as well. I think Dan said they had been sitting in the courtyard for 4 days without any help. He found 10 more that needed help. I don't know everything that went into getting those patients transferred. Dan will have to fill us in when he gets home. However I know that the trauma surgeon spoke to a misc. general who said that if they went to a certain door with x-rays, names and treatment so far, he could get them on the ship.

Earlier in the day Dan texted me the following, " We got all those poor femur patients in the back of pickups and down to the hospital boat. This has made me so happy. (7 adults and 5 kids)."

They saw hundreds at the clinic today. One story he told me was of little girl with "half her face burned off". He can fill you in on that later. There are two women that run the Sacred Heart hospital. He said they were great. They (LDS docs) were able to pitch in and help a lot at the hospital.

There have been some really frustrating moments. For instance, all the docs packed everything up and drove to Carrefour to a LDS church to do a clinic there. When they got there, no one was there to open the building. That happened twice. Trying to go somewhere and realizing they don't have enough fuel.

They are learning ALOT. What works, what doesn't. Dan hopes this groups experience will help the church when they do this again. The troubles aren't any group's fault. Just logistics! Luckily, things are getting better every day. Still so many things they wish they had!!!

Which reminds me of another text he sent. "I asked members about Masson and Petionville and Leogane etc. It's the same everywhere: problems with food, water, and injuries. I think the military presence is getting better and field hospitals are getting going...I could really use: rangers with guns, humvees, ambulances, hospital central, supply personnel, emts, postoperative nurses, diesel, air tight communications, a urim and thummin...oh and a Twinkie."

It took them a day to figure out they needed the Haitians help. The second day they enlisted help of some Haitians to help with the pharmacy bagging meds to pass out. (Put 10 amoxicillian in a baggie etc.) They are doing great. Practically running the pharmacy. Which is nice as they have a lot of docs but no supply, equipment people. They realized these cute Haitian were thirsty and hungry and have been sharing food and water with them and sometimes giving them rides home after the day is done.

Daniel gave away his mattress and tent. However the compound where they were staying had some sort of mattress to sleep on and a tent. So he's good. The people at the compound give them breakfast. He takes water and some sort of bars with him for lunch. They are fed rice and beans when they get back late at night.

I asked about the earthquake. He said he thought he had overslept and the other docs were shaking him out of his tent. He looked outside and no one was there. He said it was "surreal". He said he sleeps outdoors. He likes to have some time to himself. "A spot to bawl". Roosters crow all night. He says if he catches one there will be one less rooster in Haiti.

I asked if he ever felt threatened. He said once when they were walking from chapel to hospital. Some guys started walking close behind them. He kept looking back. But they didn't bother him. Just too close for comfort. The other was driving in terrible traffic. (Didn't get details) (It can take 30 minutes to 3 hours to get from the chapel to the compound. Yesterday it took 3 hours. (Haitian driving is insane on the best day before the quake. We had many "white knuckle" drives when were were there with our boys.)

Dan sounds ok. He said it is way worse than he thought it would be. He is grateful to have the opportunity to be helping the Haitian people who we love. He knows he is making a difference.

More tomorrow,

Kristin


Thursday January 21 Email from Kristin re: Deseret News article
This article is about our orphanage director. It doesn't mention it in the article, but his mother was also killed in the quake. This wonderful family has suffered so much, yet they continue to work endlessly to protect the children and get them home. My friend's husband is a doctor working in Haiti with a group from the church. He was there when this interview was done and he said Guesno was just sobbing.

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705360078/Grief-started-with-kidnapping.html
Haitian man's grief started with son's kidnapping
By Scott Taylor
Deseret News
Published: Thursday, Jan. 21, 2010 3:11 p.m. MST

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — For most Haitians, their current state of extreme pain and suffering started in the moments following the horrific Jan. 12 earthquake. But for a counselor in the Haitian LDS Mission presidency, Guesno Mardy, heartbreak began Dec. 6, the day his 2-year-old son, Gardy, was kidnapped.
The earthquake and its aftershocks have only escalated his uncertainties and delayed any hopeful resolution.
Over the past six weeks, Mardy has ridden the wildest of the proverbial roller coasters — beginning with the kidnapping of his son.

Then came the earthquake and its immediate impact on his family and his two (actually 3) orphanages. He watched the building that housed his administration offices and employees — including his wife, Marjorie — collapse with the victims inside. He worried about the condition of his 225 "children," orphans cared for by his Foyer de Sion adoption agency in Port-au-Prince and Leogane.

His wife was spared, despite being caught in a collapsed building. All the children at Foyer de Sion are safe and accounted for.

And yet 2-year-old Gardy remains missing, with the date of his third birthday, Jan. 25, quickly approaching.

"It will be very hard that day if we don't get him," Mardy said. "It will be very sad for us."

Shortly after his toddler disappeared, Mardy received a phone call demanding $150,000 for the safe return of his son. The call came from a phone number that he recognized as belonging to a former employee from several years back, but it wasn't the voice of the man who used to work for him.

Over three days, Mardy scrambled to raise a meager fraction of the money — just $4,000 — admitting that $150,000 is an impossible sum for him to ever consider gathering.

Since Gardy is also an American citizen, the FBI was called in and spent a week in Haiti following leads and interviewing the former employee, who was considered a prime suspect. They turned the man over to Haitian authorities and left, while the man was imprisoned during the ongoing investigation.

But the earthquake damaged prisons, and many prisoners either escaped or were released from unstable buildings. The suspect in the Mardy case is back free on the island, and the priority given the investigation by the police dropped astronomically given the death, starvation and thirst blanketing the island nation in the quake's aftermath.

And still no word about Gardy.

But another family member lost and feared dead — Marjorie, the wife and mother of his six children — is alive and well.

She and nine others were in the Foyer de Sion's downtown administrative offices when the Jan. 12 quake severely damaged the building. Mardy, who was in a yard nearby, rushed to the site, trying to reach her by cell phone.

But he could only watch as the building collapsed even more.

"I called her dead when I first heard the news," he said, adding, "I called her dead. I knew I lost my wife."

But soon he heard a familiar voice from the rubble, saying, "Mardy. Mardy. I'm here. I'm not dead."

It took several hours to extract his wife, who had suffered leg, ankle and feet injuries while being trapped. Three other people inside — Mardy's sister, his wife's brother and a close friend — were not so lucky, all perishing in the destroyed building.

Mardy was overjoyed to learn that of the 225 children between the ages of 1 month and 15 years in Foyer de Sion's care, all were safe.

So for Mardy, there are reasons to smile, but smiling is hard when your youngest child is missing for going on two months.

"Sometimes you smile," Mardy said, "but it's not the normal kind of smile. We all have some sort of pain.

"Hopefully, we can find my son alive, that we can be together and sharing the joy every day of the gospel," said Mardy, who has twice served as bishop for a ward of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and once as a branch president.

A member of the Fontamara Ward, he currently is a counselor in the Haiti Port-au-Prince Mission presidency.

Despite the pain and suffering, Mardy tries to march on.

"I have to be courageous," he said. "When I cry, I have to cry outside the home."

It's not the only thing he does outside his house. When other family members go to bed, he heads outside, unable to feel comfortable with the whereabouts of his son still unknown.

"I can't sleep in the house," Mardy said. "As a father with a missing son, you can't sleep. It's constant trauma."

P.S.
There is a photo of Dan on KSL.com and a story quoting him in the Deseret News (online) You may want to check it out.

We love you!
 
 
Thursday January 21  Text from Kristin to Linda
Here's your boy!

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=460&sid=9421353&pid=16

Thursday January 21  Email from Kristin re: Text from Dan during the day
Hello again,

Here are a some texts from about 11:00 am (Haitian time) on:
"Working on a supply chain to Leogane."
"Went to hospital today to assist in surgery: amputations, fasciotomies, redressing fasciotomies. We all had to run out during an aftershock...An engineer came by and said that half the building was unstable, so we had to go to work outside to keep treating. There's a backlog on broken femurs right now because there aren't any plates, screws and rods. Worst of all, very dirty ORs. (At least at Sacre Coure) There's no more surgical gowns, drapes. Anesthesia is basically Versed and Ketamine."

Ryan Fuhriman emailed to see if dan thought he should start trying to gather used crutches. Dan thought that was a great idea. He said amputations were happening 24/7.

Dan hooked up with one of our favorite people who helped us in Haiti. Roosevelt Richard. He actually lives in Orem now but went to Haiti to help.

"I was at hospital "Sacre coure" all day: crazy, sad, dirty, bloody, chaos. French, English, Creole, Spanish, shouting, crying....very emotionally taxing. I ran some pain meds from our ward clinic up to the poor people with femur fractures that are waiting to be fixed before we got in our truck. Oh I'm so sad and tired. But it is nothing compared to the surviving Haitians will and patience."

Keep him in your prayers.

Love,
Kristin


Friday January 22 Email from Kristin
Hello all,


I thought some of you might like to see a picture of Monique and Metinord. They certainly have been the focus of our texts the past few days. We are so thankful they were spared when so many other good people were not. It warms my heart to hear my boys thanking the Lord that Monique and Metinord are ok and not hurt. We will all be thanking God forever for this blessing.

Love,
Kristin
insert picture

Thursday January 21 6:00-8:00 am  Texts from Daniel to Kristin
Dan started texting me early this morning at 6:00 am our time and 8:00 am his. Because he is so busy he texts while he is in transit.


"On my way to Sacre Couer hospital and central chapel. Very little food and water is getting to many parts of PAP. Spoke to Jeremy Johnson this am and he's been to most areas in the city by helicopter delivering aid. Good guy. He says not enough food and water are getting in to many areas. Needs are TOO BIG and the scope of the logistics are TOO SLOW. The pictures and reports on TV show a sliver of the picture, but it's worse than I expected here....logistics are either being done poorly or the needs are just too much for what's here. Hopefully that improves over (time) quickly...every hour counts because someone dies that didn't need to because of bureaucracy and poor logistics."

"Some docs at hospital/some at clinic we've set up. Docs are fatigued, but overall in good spirits. surgeries are cruel, rudimentary, but absolutely necessary."

"Food for us is holding. Gardy still missing. (Gardy is Guesno's son) I've seen tense situations, but no fighting or shooting, but Jeremy (pilot) has. I don't know much about orphanage situation, but Im sure it's not great. Smells bad everywhere. Coping fine."

"Some bridges are out so traffic is way bad. There's confusion about where to go. Haitian leaders leaders deferring to anglo leaders that don't know how to do things here."

"I havent seen any US guys, but UN yes."

I asked him what the worst thing you have had to do so far. He said, "amputations".

"I've put the word out on the school boys. I'm not in contact with Fontamara. I will ask about the girls. (Boy's step sisters) Taking a few photos here and there".

"Just hooked up with Craig Nelson with supplies to do amputations in Leogane." (Craig is a friend of mine from H.S.)

"Ward house has diesel power now...yeah! Phone charging now."

Love,
K

Friday January 22, Morning
Not a lot of new information...


"Yesterday summary: clinic treated nearly 300 people. Surgery team did multiple fasciotomies and amputations, 12 femur fracture patients and 1 severe facial trauma treated and transported to USS Comfort. It's a drop in the bucket, but we helped a little. There is huge need everywhere."

"I can't get internet of email. Text is my only communication". (One call has gotten through.)

"Loading more femurs today."

"Just delivered 5 patients to the field hospital. Anderson Cooper is filming here now, coincidentally."

Hopefully more infomation later. He said he was going to try to call again tonight.

Love,

K
 
Friday January 22   Text Message from Hannah (Dan's Daughter to her mom)
Mama, Did you know that there is a video of dad in haiti? It shows him taking care of a patient whose leg he amputated! Its a smidgen gruesome! It also shows him being interviewed also! You probably know, but i didnt!

www.deseretnews.com/video/1690/Utah-Doctors-help-in-Haiti.html

Friday January 22, 2:59  Email from Mary re: Crutches

Ryan and I have decided to collect crutches to send to Haiti due to the number of individuals with injuries and amputations. We have confirmed with my brother, Dan, who is a volunteering physician there, that there is a need and they could be put to good use. All those who have had amputations will have no way of being mobile without assistive devices. If you can't get around, you can't rebuild your life.

So here is the plan...

BRONZE EFFORT: Check your garage, closets, attics for the forgotten set of crutches and get them to a drop off location. (Goto www.crutchesforhaiti.blogspot.com for locations.)

SILVER EFFORT: Send this email to your list of friends and family...the more the better!

GOLD EFFORT: Coordinate a similar collection at your workplace, school, or church. Just send us an e-mail (maryannfuhriman@msn.com) and we'll let you know how to get started. Remember we want to be done by Friday, January 29th. We'd like to launch all locations on Monday, January 25th.

We have coordinated getting the crutches to Haiti with "Healing Hands for Haiti" who already have a container ready to ship. Check out the blog www.crutchesforhaiti.blogspot.com to see why we decided to do this as well as other logistical information.

FYI

Crutches need to be in working order with tips and pads (they are very hard to replace)

Healing Hands for Haiti has also indicated the GREAT need for wheelchairs and pediatric walkers. We'll take those too if you happen to have them

(Tie the pair together so they do not get all mixed up!)
Much love to all of you!

Ryan and Mary Ann Fuhriman
 
Friday January 22, 5:03 pm
No visa today.  (for children in orphanage)


The government is so full of hot air and so empty of people actually DOING the work. Sure the kids can go home, IF they have visas or humanitarian parole. But who is going to issue that? Not all the government officials who are so busy telling the press they are doing everything that they can to get children out. Yes, some children have made it out and the press goes crazy over them. But it is a trickle and we need a FLOOD!

The US Embassy in Haiti is turning people away by the thousands. Those who are allowed inside are waiting for DAYS in line. They told Chareyl to come back Monday. She sent the kids back to the orphanage with Lindsay but she is NOT leaving. The people waiting are trying to pressure the workers to keep working thru the weekend. Maybe Anderson Cooper could take the weekend shift, he seems able to get things done.

Seriously, ONE additional worker to the embassy? How about one worker from every US Embassy on the planet goes to Haiti to help out?

Probably no more news until Monday.

Please keep praying.

Friday January 22, 8:08 pm
Friday Night Update
More info.....but not enough to suit me.......


"Field hospitals getting more capablility. Getting patients there is hard."

"I know medical care is filtering in...we're seeing more teams....safe, secure, clean areas are few and far between."

"I told him that Ryan and Mary are starting a movement to gather used crutches and that Helping Hands for Haiti thought they could get them to Haiti. He said, "Cool...I'll let Jeff Randall know. The crutches are sorely needed. I'm back at the compound. I'll text a team summary later. I twisted my ankle carrying femur patients into the back of trucks today. It's a bit swollen, but I'm okay otherwise....other than being as fatigued and tired as I've ever been."

No response to my texts. Hope to hear more later.

K

Friday, January 22, 10:24 PM
Phone call from Dan to Kristin

Ok...Where to start.....

Dan assures me that his ankle isn't too bad. He said, "We've all gotta be tough." Right before he called he had just been rinsing himself in a dirty swimming pool at the compound.

Today, they divided up again. One group went to the Army hospital also called University hospital to see capability building there. Dan and some others went to Central chapel.

His job was to see what in the chapel courtyard to transfer to the Army hospital where they can do more for them than at Sacred Heart hospital.

They found a girl with a fractured, dislocated hip, a guy with a really badly displaced broken humerus, a guy that his friend Matt had operated on that needed dialysis, along with another broken femur. The Army hospital can take care of all these things. The hospital has a lot of capability. The building is walled off. The parts that aren't have soldiers with machine guns, so it is very secure. The hospital has teams from all over: Liberia, Sri Lanka, Spanish, Swiss (amazing surgeons), Massachusetts General has a doc named Paul Farmer there. Dan says, "He is well known in "smart doctor" circles." He doesn't know him. Ha Ha.

Still having trouble with logistics. A neurosurgeon showed up today and told them she wanted to get on the USS Comfort. The told her they should go to the University Hospital and they would be able to get her working.

They are getting in the highly skilled. They need: army for security, Haitians to help them know where they are going etc, ambulance, central supply chain, equipment people who know what equipment is worth the expense of having.

No fresh trauma today at the chapel!

The other group grabbed supplies and went to a different church to set up a clinic. The traffic was very bad. It took way too long to get there. When they finally arrived they figured they only had about 45 minutes to help. Jeremy did a smart thing. He speaks creole. He found a bunch of little boys that he called "scouts". He told them to go find injured people to help them. They found some people with minor problems. Then boys found a dad who was dragging a liter he had made out of sticks and clothes/fabric. In his liter was his son who had a hand and arm injury with an open fracture. Dan cried as he told me the dad had been walking for 2 days trying to find someone to help his son. They wrapped him up and put him in the truck and took him to the Swiss team at the Army/University hospital.

Bill, who has been there longer than all the other docs is a 4th year med. student. He and his wife have been unable to have children and want to adopt. He found out there was an orphanage nearby, felt like he should go there, found a driver, went inside and found girl that he feels is his "daughter". Dan doesn't know how old she is. She is very malnourished so she looks younger than she is. Bill is going to try to get her out. I don't know how. I wish him luck.

I told Daniel he could bring us home a child. (if only it were that easy) He said there are some people he has really strong feelings about. (Not for adoption) One is a young man named Omeluf. He is around the age of 16-18. He is the one who helped Daniel by translating the first day at Sacred heart. He was the one I talked about previously that at the end of the day asked if Dan would come help his family. They were the ones with the broken femurs. He only has a few family members left. His Mom, brother with double broken femurs and either an uncle or cousin with femur fractures that Dan was able to help transfer yesterday. When he went back today Omeluf was there again. Omeluf said to Dan, "I want to be your best friend." Dan wants to help sponsor him in school or help him in any way. Dan gave him his address and phone number and has Omeluf's student id. I asked him if he will see him again so we can get him in the Haitian Roots program for school. He said, "Like the Haitian phrase says, "If God's willing" it will work out."

He say's he definitely wants to help the nieces of the man who's compound he is staying in. They are med students in Haiti. They have been getting a quick education in cleaning wounds, diagnosing, medication etc. The uncle is rich and can get them to America. The group has agreed to help them. Dan said they will arrange for them to shadow physicians in the USA. I'm not sure what else.

On a very sad note: The entire group of second year medical students were crushed in class during the quake.

Also, one of the driver's sisters is in Med school. They will help her collectively as well.

Dan spoke again of the femur patients yesterday. That had a huge impact on him. He tells me that femurs are one of the most painful injuries. Muscles pull to re-approximate the ends. Very painful. Muscles start to die and get infected. They must put in a rod or operating does nothing.

Half of the docs are leaving tomorrow. Jeremy, Ray Price, Dr. Macarthur and Dave the ICU nurse are staying. Dan bummed a pair of scrubs off a friend who is leaving tomorrow. He says his clothes are filthy! He said, "We will keep doing good stuff."

He is glad to get to stay even though part of him doesn't want to face it. Not that he is getting used to it, but says he can handle it for another week.

He sounds better tonight than last night, though I know he is dead tired.

I am so proud of him. He is truly my hero!

Love,

Kristin