Fall Medical Trip Stories

...better late than never, right?  We hope so!  We're delighted to be able to share storied from a medical team that traveled to Haiti in mid-September of 2014 and spent two full days at Grace Clinic

.  During those two days they saw 21 patients—12 children, 6 women and 3 men.  Ailments ranged from burns, hernias, tumors and skin cancer, to name a few.

Dr. Daniel Cantwell, Board Certified Plastic Surgeon, shared stories of a a couple patients that stuck with him after the trip.  One story was about a 25-year old man who was a machete worker who accidentally sliced his palm wide open on the job.  He found the clinic just a couple hours after the injury.  “He had his hand wrapped up in a dirty sock, said he saw signs for the clinic, and we were able to repair his hand that day,” Cantwell noted.  “If he hadn’t seen treatment early on, he would most likely have lost his hand due to infection, potentially affecting his ability work work.  If bacteria got into his blood stream it could have been even worse.”  The man came back in for check-ins a couple time over the next two weeks, and the permanent Grace Clinic team was able to see the man to full recovery.

Another story included a 4-year old girl who had fallen into a fire while her mother was preparing a meal.  Her dress caught on fire and burned stomach.  Cantwell commented that the girl’s mother “had taken her to a different clinic where they were changing dressings, but were not able to repair the burned skin.  The girl was experiencing a lot of pain.  With the help of anesthesia, she was able to be without pain while we applied bio-brain on her skin—bio-brain adheres to the skin and heals the wound 50-60% faster.  Again, the permanent Grace Clinic team was able to follow up with this young girl and see her back to full health.

This is not the first time Danny Cantwell and his team have been to Haiti on a medical trip, and it won’t be the last.  Cantwell said he hopes to be back in 2015.  We are so thankful for Daniel Cantwell and all those who have given their time, energy and talents to Grace Clinic.  The clinic serves as a beacon of physical and spiritual hope to Titanyen, Haiti and the surround community!