A WEST WICKHAM charity has suffered personal tragedy this week after its medical director lost his daughter in the aftermath of the Haitian earthquake.
The Haiti Hospital Appeal was one of the first aid organisations to help in Haiti’s Port-au-Prince after an earthquake flattened homes, shops and schools last month.
More than four weeks on, after heavy rain and several aftershocks, a tiny primary school in the northen city of Cap-Haitien was engulfed in a mud slide on Monday (February 15).
Four youngsters were killed including Pascale, the eight-year-old daughter of the charity’s resident medical director Dr Paul Toussaint.
Carwyn Hill launched the Haiti Hospital Appeal charity in 2006. He is battling to build a hospital in Cap-Haitien with his wife Reninca.
The pair moved to the Caribbean island just over a year ago.
Mr Hill, formerly of St David’s Close, West Wickham, said: “It was a school I knew well.
“For the first few months of our time in Haiti, Reninca and I had lived in a small hotel called the Bris de Mer just opposite this school. On countless occasions we had bumped into Mr Toussaint as he dropped off or picked up his bright, smiling little daughter.
“This time the school was flooded with hundreds of panicked people.
“Amidst all of the chaos, as we parked the ambulance and tried to squeeze through the ocean of people, I came across a very familiar face and one that broke my heart to see.”
The 26-year-old explained: “Mr Toussaint’s wife pushed through the crowds, overcome with grief and pain as she sought to find out whether her beloved daughter was alive or not.”
After the disaster, UN and Haitian police guarded the gates while firemen searched the site for survivors.
They pulled four small bodies from the mud, including Pascale, but Mr Hill and his small team of medics were unable to resuscitate them.
“After all our efforts it was a tragic end to place these children into body bags and carry them out into our ambulance and off to the morgue,” Mr Hill said.
“We drove silently from the school as hundreds upon hundreds of people watched on, held back by the UN.
“I have seen some incredibly stark, unjust, horrific and tragic scenes since working in Haiti, particularly in the last four weeks, but with the deep personal connection this was by far the worst.”
Since the earthquake struck, volunteers at the charity have worked with the Haiti government and UN and US military which have been delivering casualties to the unfinished hospital by helicopter from ships moored off Port-au-Prince.
For more information on the Haiti Hospital Appeal and how to support it, visit haitihospitalappeal.org or write to Haiti Hospital Appeal, 30 Gates Green Road, West Wickham, BR4 9JW.
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