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Saturday, January 30, 2010

What would you think?


I received a call at 9:30 pm Saturday night from a close Friend who is also one of my workers. His voice was very panicky and he says to me "Travis my little girl is dying, please help!" Well about this time I had all kinds of thoughts running through my mind. Where do we go, what do we do? The nearest hospital is over 3 hours away. The roads are very dangerous to travel lately due to robbers, especially at night. I told him I would be down to his house in a minute. As I arrived she was at their neighbors house which is also a "want to be" clinic. Chepkurui ( the little girl 3 1/2 years old) was in an arched position neck back completely locked. She was convulsing now and then and acting like she was swallowing her tongue. At this point I was on the phone with missionary doctors at the hospital that was over 3 hours away. One of the doctors walked me through some different things and said "Travis she needs real medical attention" At this point we took her to a near by lodge doctor. The conclusion was Meningitis. That night I saw a little child doing things that we "normal" people should not see small children do. I just sat there watching Bernard hold his little girl thinking , "what if that was me holding one of my little girls". I thought we had lost her several different times sitting in the doctors office at the lodge. Her eyes would roll back in her head and she would just go limp. All I could think was "what will I say to Bernard?" The doctor gave her a shot ( Which here will supposedly fix anything) and we went on our way. He told us come back in the morning for another. I was just praying she would make it through the night. The next morning (Sunday) we went back and he gave her another shot. I ask Bernard to leave and I wanted to talk to the doctor privately. I said" Doc is this little girl going to die? what do I need to do?" He said "you need to get her to a hospital and fast" we headed out at this point to Kijabe which was over 3 hours away. We arrived and saw the doctors. They had to do blood tests and a spinal tap(that took 3 attempts) I was glad to be there for Bernard, during the spinal tap I think he was in as much pain as his daughter. All said it turns out it was Cerebral malaria. This is very deadly and had we delayed she would have for sure died. They arrived back here yesterday ( Friday) and she was walking , smiling and greeting me in her tribal tongue (Kalenjin). It was a first for me for sure. Who would you call if you were in America and this had happened? Not my neighbor, but 911 or rushed to the nearby medical help. It made me realize we are depended upon heavily for things like this here, it scares me to death to think about this. In my mind I have thought, "what if we had just delayed to see if she got better from the shot, or what if I had not really wanted to go to the hospital?" We often joke out here about being 911 , the ambulance and all the above, I can tell you now from experience, it is no joke.

4 comments:

The View From My Porch said...

I have tears in my eyes as I read your account. As a parent you can't help but be moved. I am thankful that you listened to the still small voice of your Savior and obeyed at ever step. Instead of dwelling on what one would think and how easy it could have gone differently, let's focus on what did happen. At Laura's request many of us began interceding almost immediately. The situation and that precious little one were never out of His reach...neither were you or your girls. What an answer to prayer! May that sweet child rise up and bear witness of her Savior's miraculous and unfailing love. Our God saves!

Pat and Kathi said...

Praise the Lord T!! Make sure you tell Bernard that Kat and I were praying for him and his family. We are blessed to have you and La as friends, as well as Bernard and Nanzi.

Unknown said...

Praise the LORD all is well tell Bernard i'm so happy for him and i was feeling his pain my heart really was hurting for him and his family ,he is a faithful and true Christain tell him to keep on keeping on.
Love you guys

Kayla said...

Wow! God really is using y'all in a mighty way over there! I've been praying for Bernard and his family. I can't wait to Lord willing meet him one day!