Innocent part 1

(originally sent 4/4/07)
Last night, at about midnight, word was sent to us that a man in the encampment was bleeding badly.  We were aware that many of the adults from our area were gone and we suspected that there may be some drinking going on in the encampment.  When this happens accidents and violence are more common.  Nathan and I gathered some supplies and drove the 2 kilometers to the encampment.  We discovered Innocent, one of the village teachers, lying on his bamboo bed with his foot submerged in a bucket full of blood and water.  Innocent had come to Nathan several days earlier for a large growth that has recently appeared on the bottom of his foot.  He was taken to the Catholic clinic to have it looked at and was sent from there to the government clinic.  For three days, he showed up at the government clinic with the appropriate money in hand to have the growth removed and after waiting for several hours each day was turned away because the doctor was in a meeting or too busy.  It was this growth that had begun bleeding severely.  Innocent had put a makeshift tourniquet on his leg and the bleeding had nearly stopped, but he appeared weak and drawn.  It was obvious that he had already lost a lot of blood, and he was showing the beginning signs of shock.  However, he was quite coherent and following directions well.  Nathan and I talked over our options and decided it would be best to try to take him to the government clinic.  Though the clinic is a 24 hour facility, it is not always well staffed and the staff is not always very helpful.  That proved to be true when we arrived.  Nathan got out of the truck and found someone to help him bring Innocent to the porch of the consultation room.  The only "qualified" person at the clinic was stone drunk and unwilling to hear our concerns.  She denied being drunk in the slow drawl of intoxication and proceeded to stumble across the porch to get a look at the patient.  I turned to Nathan in frustration and asked if there was anyone else at the clinic that could be called upon.  We determined that this woman's coordination and judgment were too compromised and that she could not help us.  Nathan explained to Innocent that we would have to go back to his house and try something different.  I could see that the physical exertion of coming to the clinic had taken its toll on an already weakened man and wondered how we would deal with the hypovolemic shock that he was experiencing.  In North America, we would immediately start IV fluids and give blood products to replace the blood that was lost.  But here we do not always have the same luxuries.  Our best option was to try to keep him as hydrated as possible by giving him fluids by mouth, do our best to keep the bleeding to a minimum, and pray.  We did these things, gave some instructions to the family and went to our beds to wait till morning.
Lord, please preserve Innocent's life.  Please heal his body, stop the bleeding, and replace the lost blood.  But most of all, Lord, please use this emergency to bring Innocent to Yourself.