Ryan woke me up at …I don’t know… maybe 3:40 am or something yesterday morning (Tuesday). We had arrangements for a Shuttle Van to pick
us up at 4:00 am (and the guy was only
about 15 minutes late- practically right on time!) We were at the bus station in Guatemala
City by 5:00 am
and on our way back to Puerto Barrios.
By 10:30 am we were waterside
and looking for a Water Taxi to take us to Livingston. We couldn’t secure a boat until there were
about 20 people. At 1:00 PM we were able to join a full boat for a 30 minute
ride across the choppy bay from Puerto Barrios to Livingston.
Our mission was to find out what happened to Justine. Earlier in the month Ryan was providentially
led to cross paths with her. We don’t
really know for sure what happened but she had the worst wound I have ever
personally seen on her ankle and foot.
It looked like she had stepped on a Mine. The wound was probably 8 inches top to bottom
and wrapped halfway around her leg.
Everything, including the shattered bones was exposed. As you can imagine, she couldn’t get around
very well and she apparently has no family.
None. The day Ryan met her he
physically carried her from where he met her on the beach to her small one room
cinder block home.
When we left Livingston a few weeks
ago we left Justine in God’s hands and knowing that the two local Pastors we
met had agreed to continue to minister to her.
The first report we received a few days later was that she refused
medical attention. She was afraid they
would amputate her foot. I believed then
(and now) that without amputation she would die from infection.
Yesterday we discovered that Justine was not at home. Her neighbor thought she had gone to the
hospital. Then we found Pastor Salvador
and he confirmed that she had indeed gone to the hospital in Puerto Barrios
last week. So then…after 8+ hours of
traveling and spending about 2 hours in Livingston we were once again on a boat
going back to Puerto Barrios. We took a
taxi to the National Hospital
in Puerto Barrios only to discover that Justine was not there.
We don’t know where she is.
Here’s what we think: We know the
hospital in Barrios would have kept her and treated her for free for up to 20
days. To our knowledge she is not in Livingston. According to the very helpful Information
Office at the Hospital (informative, yes; accurate record keeping in regard to
transferring patients, NO)… she was probably transferred to Guatemala
City if she could not receive the care she needed in
Puerto Barrios.
Here’s what I feel: I
feel like God put her in the path of someone that cared for her- Ryan. I feel like Ryan brought her condition to the
attention of local pastors who eventually were able to convince her to go to
the hospital. She may have had her leg
amputated in Guatemala City by now-
I don’t know.
I have no idea what the future holds for her but I feel like she has a
chance for a future. That’s more than she had when Ryan first met
her.
Maybe this isn’t the end of the story. Maybe we’ll get an email later this year that
will complete the story. Maybe. After our visit to the hospital and to
McDonald’s, we sat in the bus station waiting for the 1:00 am Redeye back to Guatemala
City. We
stumbled sleepily back to our sleeping bags on the church floor about 7:00 this
morning- just 27 hours after this little cross-country mission began.
