Mike Conley, owner of Conley Insurance Group in Des Peres, delivered medical supplies and four surgeons to Hospital Sacre Coeur in Milot, Haiti, on Wednesday. Conley, a licensed pilot, chartered a plane and flew into Cap-Haitien, then drove 12 miles to Milot.
“I’m glad we went (to the hospital), because it gave us a sense of why we did this,” he said. “Most of the surgeries there are amputations. A lot of the injuries were compound fractures that got gangrene and infections. Almost every room we walked into, someone had an arm or leg amputated. I guess the next big thing will be getting prosthetics down there.”
The hospital is run by the Center for the Rural Development of Milot, a foundation that has several prominent St. Louisans on its board of directors. CRUDEM has expanded the facility from about 70 beds to more than 200 beds in the past week to accommodate earthquake victims being airlifted by the U.S. military from Port au Prince.
Conley said he would wait in Florida to see if he could make another flight in the next day or two.
Source: ST LOUIS POST DISPATCH
Date: 2010-01-21