Day 14- The Hardest Day in Haiti...

Jon and I before leaving.....

Jamie right before we left on the Tap Tap....

Right before we left on the Tap Tap...

A few of the village kids we played with daily...

Jon and I with "grandma" before I left for the airport after taking the woman to the hospital

Today was my last day in Haiti. I packed all my things up this morning, rolling up my tent and loading everything onto the Tap Tap. After loading everything Jamie and I asked if we could go to the Blanchard clinic to say bye to everyone and see the children while everyone else went to the airport either to say bye or to take an earlier flight so Gale allowed our driver to take us in the little red blazer to the clinic. On our way there he was telling us about the Diabetic he drove to the hospital earlier that morning which was 45 min away. He told us that it would be too expensive to continue the treatment so they will not be going back to the hospital and he dropped them back home before picking us up. We arrived at the Blanchard clinic 2 hours before we open and my mouth dropped to see how many patients were already there waiting to be seen. Hundreds were already lined up waiting for us! But today I wasnt there to work, Jamie and I got out and began playing with the kids in the Village that we have come to know really well. We were having a great time until a man came running up to me grabbing my arm pointing to the clinic. We did not have our translators with us at this time so I looked at Jamie and told her I think something is wrong. We took off running towards the clinic and when we round the corner I could see 5 people carrying an oversized unconscious woman towards the entrance. The first thing I noticed was that the woman had a wash cloth hanging out of her mouth with blood dripping from her mouth and the wash cloth, my mind started racing of what could be going on. We were able to break into the clinic lying her on a bed that we had made out of boxes as I began to examine her immediately noticing that she is pregnant! Everyone was talking at once and I had no translators to understand anything. Jamie speaks some Kreyol and finally got an answer that she was 9 months pregnant. The woman was in and out of consciousness and anytime she woke up her main complaints were stomach pain and trouble breathing. I was the ONLY medical person there and so Jamie turns to me asking what I need. She grabs me a doppler and a Blood pressure cuff. As I am trying to find the fetal heart beat, which I could not so I did not know if the baby was dead or alive, as I had someone else checking the blood pressure which was extremely high! I knew that I needed help beyond what I could do here otherwise the mother was going to die soon. As I am checking the babies position I can tell he is laying horizontal in the stomach. The water had not broke and the baby had not dropped so I yelled at our driver to pull the blazar around as we all carryed the woman laying the seats down and laying her in the back of the blazer. I jumped in along with Jamie and either a friend or family member of the woman as our driver took off towards the hospital. With rubble all around and him on the horn going who knows how fast it was hard for me to hold myself up let alone preparing myself to deliver a baby. The woman is unresponsive at this time and several times I think she has stopped breathing, her respirations have become very shallow and few. So I have Jamie positioned to start CPR if need be as I am at the other end. I was able to take her underwear off and was trying everything that I could think of to get the baby turned. I was in constant conversation with God, knowing there was no way I could do this alone, I needed his help and knowledge. I was pretty much in panic mode inside even though I looked calm on the outside I was freaking out within! We finally got to Doctors Without Boarders, I told everyone who could understand me that we were going to carry her past everyone inside and that we were not going to give them the option to reject us. As we jumped out and started carrying her in other Haitians came over to help, I thought great maybe she will make it but soon enough they laid her under a tent on the concrete floor and everyone left her. Jamie and I stood in shock that this could be happening. Hello!? This woman is dying if not already dead we need a doctor! We looked everywhere for a doctor before someone told us they were not there yet. What! This is Doctors Without Boarders With No Doctors!? So I was explaining to the only two people I could find that spoke english what was going on and that this woman needed an emergency C-Section. They told us they would look into it as they kicked us out, all I could think was that they were going to leave her there for dead but they grabbed Jamie and my arm as they escorted us out and I looked back one last time to see her laying on the concrete floor, unresponsive, and no one attending to her. We headed back to Blanchard. It was 8:30 in the morning and Jamie and I began to laugh so hard, I couldnt believe what just happened and if I processed it at all we would have began to bawl. Once we arrived back at Blanchard our team was back so I immediately looked for Jon. We sat behind the clinic as I confided to him everything that had just happened. We talked for a long while than I told everyone bye and we left. Im writing this while I am on the plane now back to the states, My mind is non stop thinking about this woman and what more I could have done. I didnt even know her name just that she was 40 years old. The Blessing I can think of today was that the elderly grandma with the 5 kids Jon and I helped carry ensure to her house came back and saw us before I left. She had a huge smile and continued to tell Jon and I how thankful she was for us as she cried. I Will Never Forget Haiti and The People There!