The following story was first posted on the Facebook Samson Missions Page on August 31:
Unfortunately, attending wakes is a regular occurrence for us. I was on a double shift, so before the wake, we had eight patients to tend to. Four of them were positive for Covid; official tests we conducted ourselves. And one of those patients went unconscious as he was using the bathroom. He fell hard and fortunately we already had a backup ambulance unit on the way. We don’t understand how he was still responsive with SPO2 levels being low enough for intubation or even rescue breathing. It was one of the harder extrications we’ve had to do because of his weight, the tight maze of corridors we had to snake through, and the rain making the sloped walkway slippery. But at least he made it to the hospital.
The wake pictured here was for another one of our patients. She was the mother of partners who serve with us in a nearby Muslim community. They are Bible translators who also utilize the One Meal nutrient food packs we use for our feeding programs. As volunteers with our group, we drop everything we can to offer assistance to one of our own. The mom suffered a stroke and was not able to be admitted to the hospital because Covid has inundated all facilities putting them at overcapacity. So we facilitated a tele-medical consult with a local doctor who works with our ambulance agency. We also provided oxygen, which is like gold nowadays. She died shortly after the oxygen tank we set up ran out of air (you can’t find a refilled tank in the middle of the night and even if you could, it’s like moving mountains to compete against all the others doing the same thing). We couldn’t make it back to assist because we were with another patient - a patient who was hit by a motorcycle and whom we couldn’t convince four hospitals to admit. It took us nine hours before a doctor even touched her bleeding and deformed leg, splinted as best as possible to prevent further damage to her compound fracture. Again, the affects of Covid.
So we went to this wake to offer our condolences and to pray with the family that had seen us a number of times as we attempted to help their matriarch for the past week. Consoling our partners was difficult because the spouse lost his mother less than 24 hours earlier. She died of Covid too. Now their daughter is sick and needs close monitoring. We often have an opportunity to preach and lead Bible studies at these gatherings, but with the lockdown restrictions, visitors were required to come in small groups. We’re thankful for the opportunity to minister to people suffering through such devastating circumstances, but death…you may get numb to it if you see it all the time, but you never get used to it.
We excused ourselves to get back onto night duty. After making our scheduled rounds through the city, we were called to a household because of an unconscious patient. The short story is that after performing CPR, he died. This also is something that doesn’t get any easier with experience because you know that chest compressions is a shot in the dark when follow-up care at a hospital is horrible or non-existent. When a patient dies we care for the family by helping them figure out the next steps, meaning helping them find a funeral parlor. We also prayed with the grieving family. But this was one of those nights where we didn’t have it in us to stick around and minister.
So now here I am, trying to settle down until our morning outreach to a Muslim community in a few hours. There’s a lot of death these days, and our crew sees too much of it. Please keep us in your prayers. Thanks for being there for us!
