A wild and amazing day in Helene

This is from the daily journal of Deidre Greer who is a nurse serving in the Alternative Missions medical clinic in Helene along with Alisa Kearney. These ladies are amazing. Please remember to pray for them and all of our missionaries as they face challenging situations daily.

Oct 30th

On Thurs Paul asked me if I would mind helping him get some measurements at Tania's house. Her outside stairs were falling apart, and he decided they needed replacing. I was glad that he asked me, as many of you know I just love to do that kind of thing, and really don't get much chance to do it here. Anyway, we started on the project on Sat. morning. Nothing is ever as simple as it first seems, tho, so we only got about ½ way done when it was just getting too rainy and late to do anymore. We were both pooped anyway.

Oh, he didn't think to eat any breakfast before we went to work in the hot sun, and being a diabetic, that wasn't very good thinking. He ended up having a pretty significant reaction, and barely made it back to the clinic where I fed him until he finally started feeling better.

We broiled all morning, but by 2pm we were hiding under the house against the drenching rain. On our way back to the clinic, Sheila said that Alisa had been taken by boat up to Bentley Bay for a birth, and would send back word to me if she needed anything, so to be available
at the clinic.

Well, I was pretty sure that wouldn't happen, but lo and behold Emily comes running up the stairs about 5:30 saying that Alisa called and needed our boat sent ASAP to get the mom down island. She didn't know any more than that, so I called back. I swear islanders don't know the meaning of hurry, or emergency, or even the need for urgent and accurate information. Alisa yells into the phone (when it finally got to her) "Get here now with the boat, I've got a foot out!" OK, now I understood what we were up against. You should know something about she and I, neither of us has ever done labor and delivery, at least not since nursing school. The knowledge we have of a breech (feet first) delivery is that it is very dangerous, usually handled with a C-section, and last but certainly not least, that neither of us had the knowledge to handle it ourselves. So I threw a few things for each of us into a backpack, and decided to bring the oxygen with a baby mask, just in case. We were there in less than a ½ hour, but I'm sure it seemed like much longer to Alisa. It was pouring rain by the time I got in the boat to go there, and dark.

OK, so what was going thru my mind at this point? How in the world were we going to get this laboring mom and this backwards baby safely down to the hospital, and manage to stop the birthing process without endangering their lives - in a boat on rough seas in the dark and POURING RAIN?!! Sound like a bit of a nightmare to you?? It did to me too! Well, I only had a few minutes to think on that before I was jumping out of the boat and following Marjie down the dark path to the dark house where this was all happening. I walked in the door to see Alisa with a baby's body, Michelle holding a flashlight in the area for light, the "lay midwife" at the mother's head. I threw down the phone I was talking to Joe on and jumped in. Alisa just said "help me get this baby out!" It was stuck at the neck, cord wrapped around its neck - and as purple and floppy as could be. I knew it was dead, but that we had to get him out for the mother's safety. I opened her up some while Alisa turned the baby boy. We prayed out loud as all this was happening. Mom pushed and pushed - then suddenly WOOSH! out he came the rest of the way. We both just started rubbing and rubbing and patting and suctioning and praying for him to take a breath. I knew it wouldn't work, she said he'd been caught there for at least 15 minutes. He was cold. He was dead. But you're not gonna believe this; really I don't think it is possible. In fact, I know it isn't possible. He made a little cough. We all went crazy!! But then, nothing again. I suctioned and suctioned, slapped and rubbed. We all prayed. Suddenly again, he took a shuddering breath, and a little cry!! Alisa screamed "his heart just started beating!!!" Everyone in the other room that I completely forgot about cheered! Mom cried! We all cried. I grabbed the oxygen and put it on him, as we kept stimulating him and cheering him on to BREATHE TROY BREATHE! It wasn't regular breathing, his heart was still weakly beating, his color was still pasty purple, and he wasn't really warm yet - but we had hope, we knew now he could live. Now mom was going to have to deliver the placenta still, so I worked with her as Alisa kept working with Troy. But man oh man we couldn't get that placenta delivered. It held on by a string it seemed, but we knew we couldn't force it out or pull on it. Mom was exhausted, but we couldn't transport them on the boat until this was done. More prayers, more pushing, more of that helpless feeling of 'what do we do next?'. I started coaxing it gently during pushes, mom just couldn't do it anymore. Then, finally finally finally, it came out. While Alisa and I assessed them both the best we could in the light of 2 small flashlights, the rain came down even harder, the roof leaked, the winds shook the house ----- but none of that mattered, for God had birthed a baby boy feet first, and He had brought that dead baby back to life.

In the end, mom decided to send dad with Troy that night with us, she was to follow the next day. The ride down was awful, hunched under a tarp, pressing hard on our necks against the wind and driving rain. But Troy kept breathing, his color and temperature improved; he even opened his eyes and looked up at us. He gripped my fingers, he responded properly with most of his reflexes, and he even cried now and then. We were both in such shock. Of course, we still have concerns as to whether he may have some brain damage from lack of oxygen for so long, but that is hard to spend too much time dwelling on. The doctor in the hospital said his lungs sounded just fine, and when we saw him the next morning he was doing well, no fevers and he'd had sugar water to eat. Mom came in on our boat, but we know nothing more since we left. But with that miracle I witnessed that night, I am sure that God has big plans for that tiny boy, whose strength is an inspiration to all that saw him fight to live. I have never in my life felt so utterly helpless and at God's mercy to do through me what needed to be done to save that baby, and then I watched as He did it. I now am convinced again that I am nothing without Him, and the great news in that is the He IS in control, not me!!

What now sounds anti-climatic is last night a man (Trudy's brother, Jerry, for you who may know) came in with lacerations all over his face. It seems that when he decided to ask his 'employer' for his pay, the response he got was to be beat in the face with a glass bottle. OK...fair is fair around here. Anyway, I sewed up his lip while Alisa sutured his forehead, we gave him antibiotics, pain meds and were about to send him out the door when he started crying. He said "you're so kind to me, would you pray for me?" (It brings tears to my eyes just writing this to you right now) So, of course we did, and I felt that this was in a way a thank you, and not just from Jerry. I can't think of a better request, a better sign of appreciation but to be asked to pray with someone. What a confirming time for me, again just what I needed to continue on here. He filled my cup back up to the brim, and overflowing.

Again; please remember to pray for our staff in all of our locations. They need God's protection and guidance at all times.

God Bless;
Tom Hackett
Director of Alternative Missions