A new outlook on bumpy roads

In the midst of the chaos of trying to transport patients to the Haitian side of the border I was given the special task of taking three of them in my truck. The bus had been too full and their special conditions made the doctors decide that having them go in my truck would be better than the overly packed bus.

Laying across the back seat of my truck then was a roughly 16 year old girl with a broken pelvis. She was too long to lie flat on the seat, so she was in that kind of awkward half seated, half laying type position. I can only imagine how fun that would be with a broken pelvis!

Up front, I had a mother and her four day old baby. I know that is not safe for a newborn to be in the front seat in her mothers arms, but there was no car seat and the pelvic fracture had dibs on the back seat.

So there I was with that precious cargo. The spead bumps on the Dominican side were less than fun for the young girl in the back and I took them as slowly and gently as I could, but then we crossed over the border to a road full of potholes and rough gravel. The girl tried so hard to be strong, but every now and then a small cry would be heard and in my rear view mirror I could see a tear running down her cheek.

I drove less than 5 miles per hour and did all I could to miss bumps and pot holes, but even the vibrations of the bumpy road had to have been painful for her. I felt horrible. I couldn't talk to her. I could remember the word for sorry in Creole. I felt so mean.

When we finally arrived at the hospital, the unloading process was extremely hard for her. She cried out in pain, but finally they got her out of the truck and onto a cot. I went over to her still feeling so mean and wishing that there was something I could do for her, and she in the midst of her pain reached out and grabbed my hand and looked into my eyes and said in English, "Thank you." I was shocked. Thanking me? Thanking me for that rough ride in the back of the truck that caused her so much pain?

I was shocked that in the midst of her pain she could at least tell that my intentions were good.

I look at bad roads in a whole new light now. I praise God for a strong truck that can take the bumps, and I thank him for a whole body that can withstand the jerks. And I pray for my friend and the many like her whose bodies were broken and who still suffer the hurt and feel the pain.