Broken Bones

Last week must have been the week for broken bones. First, on Friday afternoon, about 40 nationals brought a man to the clinic on a stretcher. Apparently, that morning, he had been digging down near the river and a large stone had fallen on his upper leg. The people had made a stretcher and carried him back up to the village, arriving in late afternoon. I examined him and could clearly tell that he had fractured his femur. I put him in a cast to stabilize the fracture, but told them that he would need to be taken to town where they could do xrays to actually set the bone. In truth, I thought there were probably bone fragments involved and that the man would likely need surgery.

 

That evening, Jeff Owens, our brand new career missionary, fell in the Smiths' house landing heavily on his right side. Brother Randy sent one of his sons to get me and I arrived to find Jeff in obvious pain. After examining him, I was certain that he had fractured at least one rib, but I was concerned about the possibility of a collapsed lung or lacerated liver. We were able to reach a missionary doctor in Goroka on the satellite phone. On hearing my assessment, he agreed that Jeff should be gotten to town as soon as possible to be evaluated. It was already dark, so we had no way to get him that night, but we made arrangements for a helicopter pickup first thing in the morning.

 

I spent the night in the room next door to where Jeff was trying to sleep. Not being sure as to the extent of his injuries, I didn't sleep for fear that he would worsen overnight without me realizing it. Thankfully, he had a good night and was even a bit better in the morning. We were able to send word to the family of the man with the broken leg, and they decided to send him to town on the helicopter as well. The helicopter landed about 7:15 and by 7:30 Jeff, Brother Randy, the man with the broken leg, and one of his family members were safely loaded on the chopper.

 

It turned out that Jeff had broken 3 ribs in 5 places, but didn't have any internal injuries -- a definite praise. Lord willing, Brother Randy and Jeff will be returning to Kiari this morning (Monday) by helicopter. Unfortunately, we have had heavy cloud cover, so the helicopter has not yet been able to come. The hospital in town referred the man with the broken leg to a hospital in another town where there is a German surgeon who should be able to fix his leg properly.

 

Thank you so much for your prayers for our safety. Even simple accidents can be challenging to handle here, but we are very thankful for the Lord's protection and care through this whole situation.