Trevor first began to feel sick on our 18 hour train ride in Ukraine from Kiev to Yalta on Sept. 6th. On the train and the day we arrived, he had a headache, a fever, and was feeling dizzy. On the 8th, (our first day of ministry) he stayed in his bed for most of the day. Trevor never missed a day of ministry before that day because he was feeling sick.
On the 9th, Trevor had a fever of 103.5. I stayed overnight with him in a hospital. At this hospital, he received a few shots and an occasional IV. The IVs at this hospital were very limited. They were more like a shot. The rooms were empty…no medical equipment…just a room with two twin beds. My bed sheets had what looked like blood stains on them. Who knows what it actually was? Also, no one spoke English, and at this point, we had no idea what Trevor was suffering from.
Trevor and I rejoined the team on the 10th. He felt a little better while the medication was still in his system, but naturally as it wore off his symptoms returned. He spent the rest of the late afternoon and evening in his bed. He was now beginning to feel a pain in his left side. Since it was Friday, the labs were closed, and we couldn’t have a blood test done for him on a weekend.
At about 2:00am on the 11th, he woke me up and asked for us to take him back to the hospital. Jenae went with him and stayed until morning. I switched with her a few hours later. When I arrived, Trevor was wrapped in blankets, cold, shivering (more so shaking), moaning, vomiting, and still running a fever. Later that afternoon he went into the bathroom to vomit. He would often go to his knees for he was getting weak. At 4:51pm I heard a fall. While trying to stand up, Trevor passed out. I ran into the bathroom and there was Trevor on the floor. I stood over him yelling his name and checking his pulse. I then retrieved the nurses. After 2 minutes he came to, and we got him to his bed. As soon as he sat on his bed he passed out again. This time in my arms. I laid him down while the nurses gave him an IV. When he came back to this time, his clothes were saturated from sweat. Trevor would never fall again without me being there to catch him. After this, our ministry contact and I rode with him in an ambulance to a hospital about 2 hours away in Simferopol.
The hospital in Simferopol provided better medication and more IVs for Trevor. However, since it was now the weekend, the labs were closed at this hospital as well. This hospital would not allow me to stay with Trevor. I had to wait outside all day. The doors were locked with gates in front of them. I couldn’t see Trevor at all. He was released at 6:00pm that evening, and the two of us took a taxi to the airport. The plan was to get him to Kiev on a short flight because there was no way that his body could handle an 18 hour train ride without any medication. We also hoped that the hospital in Kiev would be able to treat him.
On the 13th, we arrived at the airport. Trevor did fine in the taxi, and was pretty stable at the airport. As we began to line up to board the plane, Trevor dropped his passport. As I began to put our bags down and grab it, he had already bent over and picked it up. After he straightened back up he started to stagger a bit. Seconds later he passed out. I caught him and then laid him on the ground. Most in the line watched. Some came and offered assistance. One checked his pulse. Some doctors and flight attendants checked him out to see if he could fly. They took our bags off of the plane and told us he couldn’t. But God knew that we needed to be on that flight so when they checked him a few minutes later we were cleared to fly.
We boarded the plane, put our bags away, and took our seats. Trevor was doing fine at first. He wanted to rest and fall asleep. I kept watch on him while he slept. Minutes later I took a glance at him, and his eyes were open while he stared at nothing. He had passed out again. I called for the flight attendant, and she brought him an oxygen mask and tank. This time he was out for over 4 minutes. His mouth hung open, and his bottom lip was quivering. When he came to, his shirt was drenched with sweat. Altogether he passed out 4 times on the plane.
We were the last to get off of the plane when we landed in Kiev. The attendants handed our bags to us and arranged for another ambulance to carry Trevor to the airport hospital wing. We met up with our squad leader, Austin, and he rode with us. While walking from the ambulance to airport hospital wing, Trevor passed out again. And again, I caught him. The doctors rushed to him and waved a cotton ball with something on it that woke him up instantly. After they gave him some shots and a brief check up, we headed to a hospital. Austin and I stayed with him at the hospital until he was placed in a room. It was 4:00am on the morning of the 13th before Austin and I went to sleep.
At 7:00am our phones began to ring with calls from the states. Exhausted, we headed to the hospital to see Trevor. When we arrived we were told that he was no longer there. They had moved him to another hospital without letting us know. Fortunately, we finally met a woman who spoke English. She said if Austin and I could wait 15 minutes until she was off work then she would drive us to him herself. She, along with a few others, became our translators. She was truly a blessing for us. After finally having a blood test done, the results revealed that Trevor had malaria. He was given medicine to treat the malaria and the malaria count began to decrease fairly quickly.
On the morning of the 14th we were given some terrible news. Trevor had gotten worse. The doctors told us that on a scale of 0-10 (10 being the worst) Trevor was at a 9.5. After talking with his family, and AIM, and other doctors in the U.S. it was best for us to try and fly him to a better facility by means of a medical jet. However, the doctors at this hospital said that if we tried to fly him out as he was, then he wouldn’t make it.
Early in the afternoon, Trevor had surgery and his spleen, which had ruptured, was removed. So now, he was recovering from the malaria, but he also had to recover from the surgery. His father arrived that night. It was powerful to see a father come and care for his son.
For the next few days Trevor needed to make a strong enough recovery so that he could fly to London and then fly home. I am happy to report that he made that recovery. On the night of the 18th, some of us Racers held candles and sang Christmas songs as Trevor and his father walked together for the first time in 9 months. They walked from Trevor’s hospital room to an ambulance and were taken to the airport. Currently they are in London where Trevor says he is in the nicest hospital that he has ever seen. He hopes to have some fish and chips as soon as he is feeling better.
Trevor,
