When you’re on the World Race you find yourself in the most precarious situations. It is 2:30 in the morning and I am sitting in a vacant examination room in a Honduran hospital. I’m running off about 4 hours of sleep in the last 48 hours and just realized I can’t even recall the last time I had a shower.
Let’s rewind …
A couple days ago my teammates, Rachel, Riah, and I headed out on a hike down the mountain to visit a clinic. We had all been pretty sick and none of us were in any condition for a hike but when you are stuck on the side of a mountain with no vehicle in site you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do. About 45 minutes into it, I flagged down a truck and with my best “Spanglish” I scored us a free ride directly into town. This dude was truly a Godsend! We NEVER would have made it otherwise. We walked around town for a bit trying to find the clinic before stopping into a school and asking the receptionist. She gave us directions and afterwards we all looked at each other realized none of us understood more than 3 words of what she said. Nevertheless, we headed on a mission to find a doctor. After being sidetracked by the Internet café for an hour or so we finally found the “clinic” It turns out it was a maternity hospital of sorts. A doctor is a doctor right? After discovering a pregnant woman with leprosy, a lady violently swinging a mop spreading every germ the hospital had ever housed, and a stray dog who came by to snack on the used bloody surgical gauze, we decided to cut our losses, grab some lunch and regroup.
After lunch, we realized that simply hitch hiking back up the mountain wasn’t going to cut it this time. Even after getting a ride we would still had to walk about 45 minutes to the house. This simply wasn’t possible for Rachel. She was visibly weak and needed to see a doctor right away. The decision was made to go to the nearest hospital, which is about 3 ½ hours away not including the 2 hours it would take for our hired transportation to get to where we were. Our driver and friend, Dave arrived and we were on our way. Rachel sat up front and Riah and I braced our selves in the back of the truck for what promised to be an adventure. You see, the roads between these two mountain communities are mere dirt pathways cut into the mountain. Rough doesn’t even begin to do it justice. After being tossed around for hours I was afraid we would all need emergency medical attention before it was all said and done. But we arrived in one piece; sadly I can’t say the same for the hospital.
We were ushered into the emergency department by the guards. This is where we found our angel, an English-speaking doctor named Andrea. The Lord definitely orchestrated that one! Andrea was a huge blessing. I don’t say that because she is my newest blog subscriber, I mean it. 😉 She took such great care of us.
The emergency department is nothing more than a small room with 8 beds lined alongside opposite walls. No curtains, no dividers, just beds. Rachel was placed in a bed next to man whose face had been sliced open by a machete. That was a sight! Rachel was hooked up to an IV to get some fluids into her. Almost immediately she began to improve. However, Andrea found it best that she stay overnight for further observation. Once Rachel was moved from the ER to her “semi-private” room. (Use your imagination on that one!) Riah and I went to find a place to set up camp for the night. I use that word camp loosely. Although, as world racers, we are well equipped to camp keep in mind we left home with the intentions of returning in a couple of hours. We found spots along the wall that were less dirty than the rest and using our daypacks as pillows and we settle in for the night. Or so we thought …
Let’s rewind …
A couple days ago my teammates, Rachel, Riah, and I headed out on a hike down the mountain to visit a clinic. We had all been pretty sick and none of us were in any condition for a hike but when you are stuck on the side of a mountain with no vehicle in site you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do. About 45 minutes into it, I flagged down a truck and with my best “Spanglish” I scored us a free ride directly into town. This dude was truly a Godsend! We NEVER would have made it otherwise. We walked around town for a bit trying to find the clinic before stopping into a school and asking the receptionist. She gave us directions and afterwards we all looked at each other realized none of us understood more than 3 words of what she said. Nevertheless, we headed on a mission to find a doctor. After being sidetracked by the Internet café for an hour or so we finally found the “clinic” It turns out it was a maternity hospital of sorts. A doctor is a doctor right? After discovering a pregnant woman with leprosy, a lady violently swinging a mop spreading every germ the hospital had ever housed, and a stray dog who came by to snack on the used bloody surgical gauze, we decided to cut our losses, grab some lunch and regroup.
After lunch, we realized that simply hitch hiking back up the mountain wasn’t going to cut it this time. Even after getting a ride we would still had to walk about 45 minutes to the house. This simply wasn’t possible for Rachel. She was visibly weak and needed to see a doctor right away. The decision was made to go to the nearest hospital, which is about 3 ½ hours away not including the 2 hours it would take for our hired transportation to get to where we were. Our driver and friend, Dave arrived and we were on our way. Rachel sat up front and Riah and I braced our selves in the back of the truck for what promised to be an adventure. You see, the roads between these two mountain communities are mere dirt pathways cut into the mountain. Rough doesn’t even begin to do it justice. After being tossed around for hours I was afraid we would all need emergency medical attention before it was all said and done. But we arrived in one piece; sadly I can’t say the same for the hospital.
We were ushered into the emergency department by the guards. This is where we found our angel, an English-speaking doctor named Andrea. The Lord definitely orchestrated that one! Andrea was a huge blessing. I don’t say that because she is my newest blog subscriber, I mean it. 😉 She took such great care of us.
The emergency department is nothing more than a small room with 8 beds lined alongside opposite walls. No curtains, no dividers, just beds. Rachel was placed in a bed next to man whose face had been sliced open by a machete. That was a sight! Rachel was hooked up to an IV to get some fluids into her. Almost immediately she began to improve. However, Andrea found it best that she stay overnight for further observation. Once Rachel was moved from the ER to her “semi-private” room. (Use your imagination on that one!) Riah and I went to find a place to set up camp for the night. I use that word camp loosely. Although, as world racers, we are well equipped to camp keep in mind we left home with the intentions of returning in a couple of hours. We found spots along the wall that were less dirty than the rest and using our daypacks as pillows and we settle in for the night. Or so we thought …
