Texas surgeon conducts 50 surgeries in Haiti
A young surgery patient of Dr. Michael Kent flashes a
smile following her leg surgery. Dr. Kent performed more than 50
surgeries in five days in the Dominican Republic following the
Port-au-Prince earthquake. Photos courtesy of Dr. Michael Kent
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By Eleanor L. Colvin*
Feb. 1, 2010 | SUGAR LAND, Texas (UMNS)
Dr. Michael Kent, center, worked with Dr. Tom Rivers, left,
and Dr. Craig Breen, providing emergency relief to Haitians suffering
crushed limbs in the border town of Jimini, Dominican Republic.
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Five days plus 50 surgeries equals a forever-changed man.
United Methodist surgeon Dr. Michael Kent, 35, returned to his Sugar
Land home in late January from an “adventure of a lifetime,” in which he
provided emergency medical relief to the people of Haiti following the
Jan. 12 earthquake.
“I got a phone call last Thursday (Jan. 14), from a friend who is an
orthopedic surgeon. He asked me to go on an adventure with him,” said
Kent. “Turns out, the adventure was going to Haiti.”
The pair didn’t know much about where they would serve, or even how they
would get from the airport to the border town of Jimini in the
Dominican Republic. “We just knew that there were a bunch of injuries
that needed an orthopedic surgeon,” Kent said. “Very rarely am I useful
in a disaster. But an earthquake is one where that sort of injury calls
for orthopedic specialists.”
With five years of medical practice under his belt, and a solid
spiritual foundation – formed at Lake Jackson United Methodist Church as
a youth and now strengthened at Christ United Methodist Church Sugar
Land near Houston – Kent took a leap of faith
“Obviously it was a difficult decision, with a wife and kids; it was
based completely and totally on faith,” Kent said. “When do you travel
thousands of miles away and not have an itinerary? It was the biggest
test of my faith up to this point in my life. God’s asking you to jump,
and he’s already prepared the landing.”
Care amid chaos
Fifteen minutes before he boarded the plane, he learned his actual
destination would be a hospital and orphanage in the Dominican Republic.
Kent left Houston Jan. 17, and arrived Jan. 19 around 3 p.m.
“It was chaotic initially,” he said. Some 100 people needed surgery
immediately.
Since there were only two functioning operating rooms, the four-member
surgical team converted another three rooms into surgical centers.
As time passed, organization and order was restored, and “we were able
to provide a more ‘American-like’ medical system, for lack of a better
word,” said Kent.
In the five days he spent at the makeshift hospital on the Dominican
Republic’s border near Haiti, he operated on 50 people. In contrast, he
typically performs 10-15 operations a week in Texas.
The orphanage had a capacity of 100 people and the hospital could hold
40, but 300 were housed there during Kent’s stay.
In all, the surgeons saw more than 400 people.
Although Kent and fellow doctors brought in some supplies, much of what
they used came from Joyce Meyer Ministries’ Hand of Hope. Based in
Kansas City, the ministry founded the orphanage and hospital at which
the doctors served.
Of the 20 pallets (19,000 pounds of supplies) Hand of Hope sent to
Miami, not all of it made it into the island country with Kent. Surgeons
sorted through the supplies at the airport and could take only 900
pounds of the most useful items. Supplies arrived daily from the United
States and the world while they were there.
Spiritual adrenaline
The first day Kent worked from around 4 p.m. to 1 a.m. The next day,
surgeons started mid-morning and operated until 7 or 8 p.m. Energy wanes
after consecutive 10- to 12-hour workdays in crisis conditions, Kent
said.
Prayer undergirded Kent’s work and empowered the team, and the Internet
provided additional support.
Dr. Tom Green, a friend of Kent’s for 10 years whom he describes as “a
spiritual rock,” invited him on the trip and set up Twitter and Facebook
pages to allow people to follow their work in real time.
“One day he said, ‘There are 1,900 people praying for us on Twitter.’
Then, the next day he’s saying, ‘5,000 people are following along and
saying prayers for us,’” Kent said.
After the first day of surgeries, Green “Skyped” into an impromptu
prayer service his church was hosting in Baton Rouge, La.
In addition to surgeries, Kent mopped floors, organized medical supplies
from an orthopedic standpoint, processed donations from orthopedic
implant companies and carried his child-patients to and from the
orphanage.
Being a husband, father, physician and Christian were sources of
strength. “All four of those things help me serve better in this
situation,” Kent said.
“If I wasn’t a Christian, I don’t know how I could go over. If I didn’t
have a family, would I feel as strongly to compassionately help those
wives and children? Usually it’s the case that when you go on these
types of mission trips, you help yourself more than others. The trip
changed my attitude about family, how I practice medicine and what my
obligation is as a Christian.”
*Colvin is the director of communications for the Texas Annual
Conference.
News media contact: Joey Butler, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
SLIDESHOW
Photos from team in Haiti
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