Friday, February 6, 2015

Dec. 9/14 - John - Nephew - Update

“Praise Him with loud cymbals; Praise Him with clashing cymbals!” Psalm 150:5

My nephew John died this morning. He is now in Heaven singing and rejoicing with no handicaps. John fought his entire life to live right from the day he was born. His birth mother saw a baby with a swollen and large head and like many other hydrocephalus babies she abandoned him. 18 years ago I was visiting the abandoned childrens’ ward at the state General Hospital and saw this cute 1 month old baby with a large head. I told Ruth of Notre Maison (where I helped out at that time) about him and she said to try and get him released from the abandoned ward. We contacted IBESR (Haitian Social Services) and they released him to our care. At that time John wasn’t able to drink and received all his nourishment through a feeding tube. We tried to search for medical care here in Haiti for a surgery to place a shunt for his hydrocephalus. A cat scan was done and the doctor said that nothing could be done for him as he had not enough brain to support a surgery.

My sister Tanya came to visit Haiti and from the beginning a special bond was formed between Tanya and John. Ruth had regularly tried to get John to feed with a baby bottle but he wouldn’t suck. Tanya tried and John for the first time in his life drank from a baby bottle. From that moment on he no longer needed a feeding tube. Knowing that nothing could be done here in Haiti for John Tanya went back to Canada and contacted the neurosurgeon at the Children’s Hospital in London, Ontario. Dr. Delmaestro told Tanya that he would be willing to perform a shunt surgery in Canada. He told Tanya that a babies’ brain can grow after the pressure is removed from the brain. He donated his time for the surgery. In Canada it is a state run health system and international patients do not get free medical care. My family made a plea for funding to bring him to Canada. The people of Canada responded to that plea and in a short time the funds were raised.

Here in Haiti we got busy at getting the necessary paperwork done for a passport. Since John was an abandoned child we needed to get a birth certificate done. The mayor of Delmas signs on as technically the father of the child for a birth certificate to be done. At that time in Haiti to get things needed to be done people would pay bribes. We had no problems though with John. Everyone was willing to sign the necessary papers on the spot with no delay. On our way to IBESR to pick up the signed abandonment papers from the officials at IBESR I wasn’t driving the van that day. The Haitian employees at the orphanage were scared to hold John because of his large head and small body. I held John in the van and a Haitian employee at the orphanage who said he knew how to drive drove the van. He wasn’t a good driver. Near a canal instead of braking he pushed on the gas pedal and panicked and the van careened to the edge of a canal knocking over street vendors stands. A vendor got knocked to the ground. After the vehicle came to a stop an angry mob formed. I got out of the vehicle holding onto John and immediately the group of people became silent. I told them sorry for the accident and that we would take the lady who was knocked down to the hospital with us to get checked out. We did this and then drove over to see Leonel Maxi, the justice of the peace for a birth certificate. While waiting in the office our Haitian driver asked for the keys to get something out of the van. After 2 hours we came to the conclusion he would never come back. Leonel Maxi went out to the street to find a taxi so that we could get back home. From that day forward he has always been a support for when we needed papers done.

Getting John’s labwork done for the Canadian embassy medical proved a problem too. We waited on a bench at Bernard Mevs Hospital. For 2 hours I sat with John seeing everyone around me getting called to get tested. I got angry and asked the lab worker why we were not being called to get tested. She told us to go to administration. When the administration worker came to speak with the lab worker she told them that she couldn’t do the lab test because she was pregnant and if she touched John her baby was in danger of getting hydrocephalus. Another employee was found to do the test. Today Bernard Mevs is the hospital of reference for hydrocephalus children and there is no discrimination against them. Neurosurgery teams regularly come from the United States to perform shunt surgeries and the hospital provides free care to hydrocephalus children. It is amazing how John has touched people and brought change.

We ended up getting the passport the same day and it was easy to get the Canadian visa. We bought a plane ticket for American Airlines. When we were in front of the counter at the airport to get the boarding pass for John and myself the airline employee said that American Airlines could not issue John a boarding pass. I took out John’s baby bottle and put it in his mouth and he started to suck. I told the airline worker that he was a baby just like any other baby and the only difference was that he had a very large head. John was given his boarding pass and we made it to Canada.

From that day forward Tanya and the rest of the family has fought to keep him in Canada. At one point in time the Canadian government said that the family could be considered as kidnapping a Haitian child by not returning him to Haiti. Tanya received consent from the Haitian government for him to remain in Canada. A person in Canada contacted Tanya and told her that if ever the day came that the Canadian government would try to force John to go back to Haiti to contact him and he would make sure that every news service in the country would carry the news. After years of pressure and bureaucracy John was finally granted residency status and when he was 17-years-old John became a Canadian citizen. At the citizenship ceremony John sang the national anthem. In Canada, a handicapped person is in the same category as a criminal or a terrorist and are black flagged for non-admission to the country. John showed that day at the citizenship ceremony that he was a patriotic citizen.

John touched the hearts of many people and his handicap never dulled his spirit or his joy for life. He loved to sing and joke. He loved singing Oh Canada and in school when teachers asked him what he would like to sing he would often times choose that song. Anyone who knows John knows that he loves music. In school he loved beating on the drum during music class. He was a special person. He changed the outlook on life of a lot of people around him. He brought joy to everyone around him. At his school there was a girl who was depressed and suicidal over her handicap. She saw how John was and how happy he was and saw John’s attitude for life and living with his handicap. She changed and no longer was depressed. She later wrote Tanya and told her how John had changed her life.

John lived his entire life proving his right to live to people and how living with a handicap can be a joy. He was a patriotic Canadian citizen who loved singing the national anthem. He lived his life and showed people that he did have a brain. He showed everyone how to live life. Now he is in heaven and rejoicing in heaven with no handicap. I know that the Lord will greet him and say “well done, good and faithful servant”. I know that in heaven that John will be the one playing the loud clashing symbals in praise. We will miss John but we know that he is in heaven and will meet and rejoice with him again. Please keep my family and especially Tanya in prayer.

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