Hit and Run

The patient being carried by his family.

The other night just as I was cleaning up after a birth, two honking cars showed up at the gate.

After they rushed in clamoring and banging walls, they unloaded their cargo on our bed. A hit and run victim roughly 40 years old and very drunk lay curled up on his side.

Unconscious and bleeding, he didn’t make a sound as his friend moved his fractured leg around like a puppet on a string.

It flopped awkwardly to one side --the two pieces were severed beneath the skin. But most of the bleeding was coming from his head via a star-shaped gash.

Not skilled in emergency medicine, I started an IV and waited for Dr. Tom to arrive.

Tom worked hard to get the leg braced and the patient eventually woke up. I got to suture his head (which was totally cool and nothing like perineal tissue!) and we kept him over night.

It took his family a day or so to rally up enough money to get him to Wau for surgery, but they eventually did so; and he left on a bus this afternoon.

Please pray for him to get the pins in place and heal properly so he can walk again. I’d hate to see them amputate....

Updates on a few stories.

For those of you who've been following along in these adventures for some time, I have a number of updates to share with you.

Yar: The young girl with the bone sticking out of her arm, in need of surgery (read her story here), has had a 'break through' of sorts. We have been dressing her arm for weeks, trying to keep infection from setting in while we look into flights and raise funds for her surgery. Last week, a piece of gauze got stuck on the bone. While trying to remove it, the bone came out as well! Now all she has is a wound that is healing nicely. She can move her arm without much pain. There are still limitations, and we still need to get an x-ray, but it's looking up. Woohoo!

Achok: The woman with the outrageously engorged breast (read her story here) came in for another prenatal today. She is open to having surgery on it if we are able to help her. I'm told there is a surgeon coming in a few months for a short-term trip and/or she might be taken to Kenya. All this is a bit speculative but I remain hopeful. Pray for her. Twelve years is a long time to wait for relief.

Veronica: The young girl I prayed for last year after finding out she was pregnant out of wedlock at 15 years old (read her story here), returned for a prenatal today. We were just finishing up, when it occurred to me that she was the brokenhearted little thing, weeping her eyes out just a few months back, but I wasn't sure. So, I asked her and she smiled sheepishly, apparently happy to be remembered. Relieved to see her again, I asked her for an update: Was her brother understanding? Did she have to drop out of school? Was the father of the child honorable? She explained that she was able to stay in school (at least this year), her brother didn't beat her and the father of the child is helping support her. She looks great. Praise God!

Two Broken Legs and a Baby.

Last night I was called to the clinic to help with an emergency. Two women were in critical condition after being hit by a truck. To get to them, I had to walk through a dozen somber looking men gathered on the clinic porch. They pressed in to see but our staff barricaded the doors; the doctors needed space to work.

My patient was named Adong. She looked to be in her twenties and had a severe fracture of her left femur; it lay unnaturally swollen and twisted. When I lifted it back in place, I could see where her bones were no longer connected. It was a clean break -- No doubt a painful one.

While irrigating a deep gash on her foot and removing mud and sand from various wounds, I was able to piece together her story. She and her sister-wife, were walking alongside a road when a land cruiser hit them, sending them flying. The driver stopped, abandoned the vehicle and ran for his life. They knew both the driver and the vehicle well. There was no doubt who was responsible. 

Only then did she ask me if her baby was okay. What? She’s pregnant? I made her repeat herself. She explained she was five months along.
-- “My stomach hurts a lot. Is my baby okay?” She groaned in delirium as I palpated her belly.  “It hurts everywhere.” I could feel the well formed baby beneath her skin, perhaps she was more than five months.
-- “Can you feel your baby moving?” I asked. But she seemed not to hear... or understand. Instead she repeated how she was in pain and wanted to turn on her side.
-- “Your leg can’t be moved right now. Why do you want to turn?”
-- “I have to turn because my baby is uncomfortable in this position. I have to lie on my side.”
-- “Please don’t move. I’ll check on your baby. Just don’t move.”

Adong with Dr. Tom

As I got the doppler and ultrasound gel, I couldn’t help but wonder if we’d have a third victim on our hands. Relief rushed through me when I immediately found a solid heartbeat.
-- “Adong, your baby is fine.” I reassured her. “He’s fine. Meth Apoul. He’s doing well. ”

The room sighed in relief with me... but she moaned. The pain was intense. I took her hand and prayed. I couldn’t thank Him enough that they were all alive. It could have been much worse. I then went to pray with Amer, her sister-wife in the next room. Amer sustained a fractured right leg and several facial lacerations. She was stable and despite the blinding pain, would live.

The crowds continued to come and go. Among those pressing to get into the clinic were newspaper reporters and police investigators. Everything had to be documented. The man who hit them was a foreigner, an Ugandan. He worked for a Christian relief organization. Worse still, he attends our church and once worked with our ministry. We know him well.

As the reality of this news became clear, each face grew heavy in question marks and concern. Would their family retaliate? Would he be killed? Would he flee to Uganda? How will any good come of this? Answers would come in time. So we turned in for the night.

Amer after being stabilized.

This morning’s light brought more officials, commissioners and looky-loos. It took some time for the women to be moved to our vehicle. But by mid-morning all was arranged and they left for Wau.

I also learned that the driver was arrested (mostly for his protection) and is now being held in custody. Since no one died, his life is not in jeopardy but he will have to pay several fines. 

Please pray with me Romans 8:28 for our Ugandan brother. Pray for wisdom, peace, protection and grace. Pray for these women and their families; healing, life, forgiveness and mercy. May this little baby grow healthy and strong. Amen.

Broken and beautiful.

Last week during one of the basketball outreaches, a young girl came out to play. She is beautiful and has a smile that takes you by storm. My best guess would be she’s about 8 years old. She’s more fair skinned than some of the other girls in town and I was told her mother was of Arabic descent.

When they realized that Sabet (from Sabet’s Clinic -as the IDAT clinic is referred to by the locals) was there, they brought this girl to him. She lifted up her sleeve to show a bone sticking out of her shoulder -- pus filled and exposed.

They explained that two years ago she fell from a tree. The bone broke and came through. They couldn’t afford to fix it, so they did nothing. She lived and it started to heal a bit. And slowly, she regained some use of her arm.

He told her to come to the clinic the next day for a dressing. She came. And every other day, she returns. We cannot reset it without x-rays and are looking into taking her to Kenya to be treated. In the meantime, we see her regularly.

Yesterday, I saw her napkin keeping her place on the bench. It was so dainty and fun, I had to take a picture. She is all girl... needlework and nail polish!