I left Allegre in the Land Cruiser as scheduled at around 2:30 that afternoon. With me were Anita and Katie, both of whom were bound for a seminar being held by an ultrasound technician from the states. The seminar was a one day event being sponsored by CAM, and in order to be in Tityan- where CAM's base is located- in time for the 6 A.M. departure time Tuesday morning, it would be necessary to spend Monday night at the CAM base. So we were headed out to Ti Goave, where we were to be joined by Michael Rudolph who was also going to the seminar.
Several neighbor ladies were traveling with us as far as Ti Goave; one of whom was dear old Madam Noaz. Now, in the process of loading and preparing, and the general business and rush that accompanies trips out to town, we forgot to load one of the sacks of produce that she was intending to take out to give to her children. When my wife discovered that fact shortly after our departure, she felt bad for Madam Noaz and asked Delwyn if he would be able to chase after us with a faster machine and give us the sack. As I mentioned before, Michael was in town already, and he had left his 4-wheeler behind at the mission. Thinking that this would be the fastest option available, and considering that I only had a several minute start on them, the 4-wheeler was selected as the machine of choice. Considering you can go twice as fast on a 4-wheeler as compared with the Land Cruiser, this was a very reasonable decision. Delwyn and Alex proceeded to hurriedly place the sack on the 4-wheeler and take off. Unfortunately Delwyn didn't realize that the gas valve was kept turned off on the machine when not in use, and so they stalled a short way up the road after the carburetor ran out of gasoline. It took several minutes to figure this out and get the machine running again. Afterwords they had trouble with the sack wanting to fall off, and stopped several times to rearrange it. When all was said and done, they ended up going quite considerably farther than they had intended, passing the zone of Gerard along the way- about 20-30 minutes by 4-wheeler from Allegre.
Soon after passing Gerard and rising to the top of the mountain pass just beyond it, they espied the ambulance winding down the far side several minutes in advance. This gave them hope that they would be able to overtake it rapidly, as the road isn't too bad in that area and the 4-wheelers superior speed and maneuverability would enable them to close in the gap in distance. In fact, all unbeknownst to me and the others in the Cruiser, they were practically on our tail when the accident occurred.
Here is a brief, but I hope relatively comprehensive, account of the incident itself; as related to us by Delwyn and Alex. As far as we know there were no other direct witnesses. They were coming down a smooth stretch of road, lightly gravel-covered and running downhill at a moderate angle. The road comes into a gradual curve at that point, which sharpens into a tighter curve and also begins a more drastic descent at about the midway point of the curve. As Delwyn came into the approach of the curve, he relates that he felt distinctly comfortable with the speed and handling of the machine. He was not touching the gas lever, and was gradually depressing the brake levers in preparation for the sharper portion of the curve. Suddenly, and without any action on his part that he can recall, the motor seemed to throttle up to half-throttle or stronger. Almost instantly, the back wheels broke loose on the gravel and began to swing sideways, giving him a completely helpless sensation. He attempted corrective steering, as well as pumping the brakes levers, but to no effect whatsoever. The machine seemed to simply be operating on it's own, applying power to the wheels irregardless of what he did or didn't do. Bear in mind that all this happened in a matter of 4-5 seconds at the most. The 4-wheel drive was not engaged.
At the last moment, Alex recalls hearing Delwyn call out "I can't steer it!! We're going over!!" At the moment the machine passed off the edge of the road, it was probably sliding almost completely sideways. There is a low hedge of small wild desert brush along the road at this place; the 4-wheeler slid through this and out over the edge of the mountain. From this point on it is rather difficult to reconstruct the exact sequence of events. Here however are what I feel are among the most notable occurrences. The machine almost certainly started to roll over quite rapidly, given the speed and sideways motion it was holding when it left the trail. Judging from the machine itself, it obviously rolled both side-to-side and end-to-end. Delwyn recalls flying through the air, and hitting the ground on his stomach with his hands stretched out before him, facing down the hill. He slid some distance in this position, ending up approximately 50 feet below the road. As he slid he was able to observe the 4-wheeler passing over him and bouncing off the ground below. It would appear that on this second (?) bounce Alex lost his grip and flew off as well. Who knows whether, and how many times, the machine may have rolled or flipped already by this time? As he later recounted to us, Alex had time to realize that Delwyn had already fallen off, and to think "I should fall off too"!!! He even recalls thinking, while in mid-air and clinging to the handles of the 4-wheeler, "I wish I had grabbed one of the little bushes by the road!!" Delwyn could see the 4-wheeler continue bouncing, crashing, and veering down the mountainside as Alex tumbled head-over-heals somewhat in front of him; Alex finally came to rest about 30 feet below Delwyn on the edge of a slight natural terrace- below which the ground drops away much more steeply. That put him about 80 feet below the point where they left the road. Delwyn recalls remaining fixed, staring at the form of the little guy laying on the rocky mountainside below him. He said later, "You can't imagine what happened in my heart when I saw him start to move." I think I can imagine just a little bit...
Alex got up on his hands and knees and began scrambling up to Delwyn, who was struggling to extricate himself from his precarious position. When Alex arrived up near to him, he said "Could you help me a little bit, I think my legs are shaking!" With Delwyn's help he continued to scramble on hands and knees back up to the road. The 4-wheeler had come to rest in the sharp v-point of a ravine chiseled into the mountain's side, over 300 feet below the road. If it hadn't landed in this crevice, it could have gone many hundreds of feet further down.
Haitians who had heard the racket began to gather around excitedly discussing the accident. (On a humorous note, one of the crowd observed to my wife later that "the big blanc didn't seem to speak much Creole, but the little blanc had told them all about the accident.") Delwyn decided to attempt to call for help. He walked back up the road a little ways, where he found better cell signal, and tried first of all to call me knowing that I couldn't be far off yet. But unfortunately I was winding into a river valley that is devoid of cellular service, blissfully oblivious to the near tragedy that had occurred less than a minute behind me- involving my own son! Delwyn then tried my wife, and thankfully was able to reach her phone. At this point he was in some shock, and didn't even realize what all was wrong with Alex. Shana decided right away to come out herself in the Bobcat, so she took neighbor Frè Claudne along for support and help and headed out almost immediately. She was able to contact me en route, as I was entering Ti Goave. When she arrived on the scene and realized the condition of Alex's arm, she called me again and I was able to leave Ti Goave immediately on Pastor Levy's 4-wheeler, accompanied by Michael. We arrived at the scene about 20 minutes later, and were able to be on the road back down to Ti Goave not long after. The condition of the guys in the wreck was simply miraculous, considering the possibilities of what could have happened! Delwyn walked away with hardly even a scratch, although his lower back has given him pain. Alex's arm was swollen up around the elbow and he couldn't bend it without extreme pain, and his face was quite scratched up- including a nasty flap of skin torn loose on the top of his nose. But in comparison to what could have happened; all I can say is that God was merciful.
I took Shana and Alex down to Ti Goave in the Bobcat, while Michael and Delwyn preceded us on Levy's machine and prepped the radiologist at the Ti Goave hospital. When we arrived all was ready, and we were able to get an x-ray of the arm quite quickly. The result was rather dubious at best; the Ti Goave hospital doesn't appear to shine in regards to quality of x-rays, any brighter than it does in many other medical fields. But it appeared that there may be a potentially serious impact fracture to the upper arm (humerus) bone. We proceeded to have the arm casted by Dr Tomas in the E.R. with help from Michael. From there, we went over to the Darv Seibel family's house, where they graciously allowed us to clean up, talk over the options, and eventually decide to go to the Adventist hospital in Karefour- a suburb of Port-au-Prince. In the meantime, Pastor Levy arrived with Cherie and the nurses- Katie and Anita. They had gone up to Allegre in Grandpa Harold's machine and rounded up clothes, some medical supplies, and most importantly our little Cherie Bear!
The Adventist hospital is arguably the best orthopedic center in Haiti, having excellent American and Haitian surgeons on staff. We contacted an acquaintance at the hospital, and eventually arrived there near midnight on Monday night. The radiologist performed another x-ray, after the examination of which he confidently proclaimed that there were no breaks or fractures, but rather a separation of the joint in the elbow. Having put as an addendum that he wasn't really qualified to interpret the slides and that we should wait for the surgeon in the morning, he then directed us to the E.R. department where Alex's face and nose were cleaned up thoroughly. It was decided not to stitch the flap open on his nose until the risk of infection was removed, so we are bandaging it several times daily for the present.
At 3:30 A.M. we retired to the Land Cruiser for a restless night of watching and waiting, by 6 I was waiting near the E.R. for any sign of the surgeon to arrive. Eventually at around 8:30 he showed up and proved to be very efficient and professional. He quickly dismissed both of the previous x-ray's and personally oversaw the taking of 4 new ones. From studying these, he arrived at the conclusion that the joint had been stressed, but that there was also a fracture or chip in the humerus, right at the elbow joint. The arm was recast, and he is scheduled for a follow-up exam and x-ray next week.
We had taken Michael and Delwyn along out with us to Karefour. Michael was extremely helpful with his medical knowledge and experience and excellent command of Creole, in the various processes we needed to work through to get the somewhat rusty and outdated Haitian medical system creaking into motion. Actually I just want to put in a plug for ALL our fellow missionaries here, from the ones who housed and helped, to the ones who ran around and helped, to the ones who stayed back in Allegre and worked really hard in the absence of everyone else! You are all very dear to us, and we are so grateful for all you did to help out! I was especially blessed by my dear friend Pastor Levy, who got up at 3 A.M. to haul the nurses out to catch their ride to the seminar- which neither Michael nor myself was now able to attend. He then waited in Port all day for them, not getting back to his home until 11 P.M. that night!!
I mentioned that Delwyn came out as well. We were somewhat concerned about the lower back pain he felt, so when Alex got his third round of x-rays prescribed Tuesday morning, the surgeon also had Delwyn get examined. The x-rays on him came out fine and clear, for which we are very relieved and thankful!
We came back up to Allegre Tuesday afternoon, arriving at around 5 P.M. after stopping to observe the process of picking up the smashed 4-wheeler. It was hauled back to the mission in the back of our Bobcat. We have been overwhelmed by the condolences and love poured out by our Haitian friends. Their love and simple amazement and faith in the mercy of God has been incredible, and touched us deeply. May we find some small way to repay them for their love. People came from all over the community, moto drivers stopped us all the way up the trail expressing their concern, even in Ti Goave people were questioning us about the accident!
Last Sunday in church here in Allegre- which we did not attend as we were hours away at the church in Labische- Pastor Levy recounted a dream he had had several nights before. In the dream, two missionaries had an accident on a 4-wheeler. He didn't know who they were or what became of them, but he was impressed enough to share the dream in church and to earnestly entreat the believers to pray for the missionaries in a special way as the Lord had laid on his heart that they were under attack from Satan. Numerous people have recounted this to us already, which is all the more amazing because Levy himself has been silent on it.
What has impressed me about this incident? Many things; but probably the clearest remains this one, "Our time is in His Hands." And Shana's and my predominant, overriding feeling is one of strange joy and peace; but then again, is it really strange? "Not as the world gives, give I unto you" said the Son of Man two thousand years ago. What kept our precious little boy from a humanly unavoidable death? We may all die tomorrow- God is Good!!!!! We may live many years of prosperous service for the Kingdom- God is Good!!!!! Isn't that the point of a joyful, abandoned life in Christ? Another man spoke truly two thousand years ago; "But now for me to live is CHRIST, and to die is EVEN MORE OF CHRIST (or do you have another interpretation for 'gain'???)!!!!!!!! God bless you all, we love you and wish the very best Christ has to offer you. Thank you for your prayers!
Steve
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| Waiting for the first x-ray at the Ti Goave Hospital. |
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| Shana and Cherie overlooking the valley, standing in the place where the 4-wheeler went over. |
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| The man in the picture is standing in the area where the 4-wheeler came to rest. Now look up at the top- see that black cow? Not far to the right of that, is where the machine left the road and came out through the hedge. Down from there, do you see the sort of terrace running from side to side across the picture? Near to the right side, the terrace sits directly above a brown-walled crevice with a tree growing out near the bottom. Alex landed just above that terrace.................................. |
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| The 4-wheeler after being extricated. It's pretty rough. |
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