Caution - Graphic Photos Below

Today I experienced fear and exhaustion.  On the 9 hour drive home, we came across a body in the road. A man laid there in the middle of no where (a small town was an hour away).  He was unconscious while people stood and stared.  I was terrified.  I have never experienced this in Africa before.

At first Ben and I believed him to be dead.  We had a translator with us and immediately stopped the vehicle.  The man had been hit by another car before us and they did not stop.  Apparently, after hitting someone here you are supposed to go immediately to the nearest police station because there is a high rate of "mob justice" in Uganda.  We have already seen several terrible accidents in the city but all of them had police nearby.  The car that struck the man never made a report or even sent anyone to help.  It was pure selfishness.  I can't imagine how cold you would have to be to leave a complete stranger unconscious in the street.

Bernon came to with a pool of blood around his head, his leg facing a different direction and pain shooting through his upper body where he was first struck.  Blood was oozing from lacerations on his nose, head and leg.  We had a blanket in the car and we grabbed it to transport him to the hospital.  There are very few ambulances outside of Kampala so we knew we were his best chance to survive.  We piled his broken body into our van.  His pulse was racing but his breathing was fairly regular for someone who had just experienced incredible trauma.

I honestly don't know what I would have done without Mike and Ben.  Michael was extremely calm and kept holding the hand of this man.  He was in and out of consciousness several times before we got his name.  "Bernon" he whispered through his clamped teeth.  The pain was so severe that he often tried to move his leg unconsciously.  Michael was an angel (his name is SO appropriate).  As we held his hand I kept wondering if he would die in our car.  I was trying to think about the possibility of watching someone pass away.  Could I handle it?  Would I turn away or be afraid to watch?  I also knew that there was a distinct possibility that if this main survived he would have to have his leg amputated. There are no specialists to help here and in difficult cases they just take the leg off.  How would he survive then?  How would his family survive?  I was terrified but at one point felt an incredible peace come over me.  I just kept praying over him and speaking to him calmly while holding his hand.  Michael showed him how to breathe deeply when he would open his eyes. 

Bernon never had any blood come out of his mouth during the journey although I did hear him cough some back.  I kept praying, "Dear God, please let this be a good sign".  The car smelled of blood and sweat and our blanket became sticky and red around his head.  I turned the air conditioning on high so I would not smell the flesh. 

We arrived at the "hospital" which was more like a clinic with 1 doctor and over 300 people waiting. We ran in and pulled out the 1 gurney that was in the hospital.  It was old and metal with no cover.  The wheels looked as if they were about to fall off.  We transferred Bernon as carefully as possible onto it and rushed him into the "Casualty Ward".  The doctor looked a little shocked to see us there.  He immediately asked if we had hit him.  "No" the translator said, "They saw him on the road and picked him up".  The doctor raised his eyebrows in surprise.  Apparently this definitely doesn't happen often. 

Bernon was roughly examined and given an injection of pain medicine.  The twisted and bleeding leg seemed to relax some and so did the creases between his brows.  The doctor taped his leg onto a board and turned to ask us a question; "Does the man have no relatives here with him"?  There were no nurses to care for him at all.  In Uganda, a family member must care for you and feed you until you leave.  That could be weeks in this case.  Ben decided to stay at the hospital with Michael and I went to the village to try to retrieve someone from Bernon's family.  He told us that he had a pregnant wife and 3 children.  He couldn't find a job and so he has been going from town to town trying to "dig" for food.  Basically, this man is a slave.  He tries to work all day to bring home 4 potatoes for his family to eat for the day.  It dawned on me that his family would now be hungry as well.  Ben told me not to worry.  He put his own shirt under Bernon's head so that the large cut would not bleed all over the metal gurney while they were taking him to x-ray. 

Hope and I left with the translator for the village desperately searching for his family.  We sent ahead a messenger on a motorcycle telling the family what had happened.  The poor woman must have been terrified.  We never found her.  She was walking from neighbor to neighbor asking for a few shillings so that she could go to her husband.  We did however find Bernon's mother in law and brother in law who also had to bring a bag of food to prepare for him for the week.

We arrived back to the hospital 1 hour later and found Bernon with a much better disposition.  Michael and Ben had to watch as Bernon was lanced and covered with bandages.  They were caring diligently for him amidst other emergencies and amputations within 2 feet of them.  It is a good thing I wasn't there!  When I saw the xray, I was so relieved.  I consulted with the doctor (as if I could convince him) that it was the smaller bone (the fibula) that had fractured and not as close to the joint as we had expected.  Surely a cast would be best in this situation and not an amputation?  He smiled at me and said, "Ahhh madam!  That is surely what I was thinking as well!"  I went to Bernon and explained that he would walk again and not to worry. Bernon smiled at me and said, "Thank you Lady of Mercy". 

Bernon will be ok.  He doesn't appear to have any internal injuries and he certainly has a strong spirit. We have given him some money that he will use for medicine and his wife's needs as well. I am so glad that God had us in that place at that time.  If you want to give any support to Bernon or his wife, please email me at melody@pahlow.com.  Any help would be greatly appreciated!