the boy and the mango tree

Monday night of last week, we were all hanging out at the house when suddenly Suzanne (our CD) and Jenner (a boy on the team) rushed out saying that
there was an emergency. They are both EMT's and Charles (a man from
church) had called them saying aboy had fallen out of a mango tree! So
they rushed over there. Charles had already picked up the boy
(something very bad to do because the boy had fallen on his head!) and
taken him to a "hospital". When Jenner and Suzanne got there the boy
was lying on the one bed in the "hospital", unconscious with blood and
cerebral spinal fluid coming out of his ears and nose. All the
villagers (these are the same people who we had a dance party with
last week) were just sitting there, sure that he was dead. But he
wasn't. After a while of searching, Suzanne and Jenner were able to
contact the only ambulence in Mbale to come get them. The ambulence
had a stretcher, but NO neck brace or straps to hold the boy down.
Suzanne and Jenner jumped in the back to help stabilize the boy (his
name is Ivan) on the way to the hospital. Can you imagine going on the
bumby roads in a sketchy ambulence when you already might have brain
damage? Ivan was unconscious for most of it (thankfully), but
sometimes he would wake up and thrash out. They finally got to a
private hospital- they didn't go to the regional state hospital
because there mayn't have even been a doctor on duty. At Mt. Elgon
hospital the doctors there didnt' even really know what to do, so
Suzanne and Jenner ended up doing alot of it. they didn't even have
any gloves for them! Ivan needed a CT scan, but becaus this is a
private hospital (not a state hospital, where all services are free)
they had to pay BEFORE the procedure could happen. the family of
course did not have the money (250 thousand shillings- or about $150)
to pay for it. Finally Jenner convinced the doctor to just do the
scan! He asked anyone on the team who was willing, to donate 20
thousand shillings to help pay for it. HELP doesn't do stuff like
that, but if individuals are willing to do that they can. the scan
discovered that he had a skull fracture and a subdural hematoma (blood
on the brain) that was starting to clot. there was nothing else they
could do at that time so they simply put Ivan in a room for the night.
If he lived they would evaluate him in teh morning. In the morning
Jenner and Suzanne went back over there  and had Ivan referred to CURE
hospital- the very reputable neurosurgery hospital here. He is VERY
lucky that CURE is so close because he probably would have died! He
was able to get into surgery that afternoon and did great. From this
week learned of the dire situation the healthcare system is in. About
70 kids (probably more) die from head injuries every day in Uganda.
That is so many! The villagers, and even Charles, had no idea what to
do when Ivan fell and took him for dead. Even the doctors were
unskilled and had very limited supplies. It is sad to see the poor healthcare system here. It has really impacted me. As a result, I am trying to find a way to get supplies over here to at least one of the hospitals!