Guest post by Elizabeth Smith, Red Cross blogger
Today news came of a high point in a story, passed on by many, that began on April 25, 2015.
The message read “Today, August 4, we transported our dear Mr. Smiley and his brother to Dhulikhel Spinal Cord Injury”. It was sent by Red Cross nurse Kirsty Robertson of Toronto who is part of the current Canadian Red Cross team working at the
field hospital in rural Dhunche, Nepal. She was eager to share Mr. Smiley’s happy outcome, as it has been a team effort, the result of the care and concern of some of the 100 or so Canadians who have helped provide medical care to local people for over three months in the mountainous setting.
“Mr. Smiley” was given this nickname because of his “wonderful, happy personality”. His real name is Chupsi, and he is deaf and mute. On April 25, the magnitude 7.8 earthquake devastated Nepal, and a boulder in the Dhunche area fell on Chupsi, crushing his right hip. The first Red Cross team, which arrived shortly after the quake struck, discovered Chupsi’s condition and arranged to have him medically evacuated to a hospital in the capital, Kathmandu.
Chupsi required a hip replacement, but could not afford it. Instead, the surgeon removed part of the thigh bone, or femur, which resulted in him requiring crutches indefinitely for mobility. However, Chupsi found the crutches so uncomfortable he never used them.
He was carried on his brother’s back out of the Kathmandu hospital and travelled back to Dhunche by bus. Chupsi lives alone in a dirt-floored dwelling made of canvas and cast-off plywood and metal. With the arrival of the monsoon in July, it became very muddy and Chupsi could only get around by crawling.
By now a new team of Red Cross aid workers, led by nurse practitioner
Patrice Gordon of Tatla Lake, B.C., were running the field hospital and they received word of a man crawling in the mud. They arranged for him to come to the facilities to be assessed.
“We did not see crutch-walking for the rest of his life as an option,” says Patrice.
“Our anaesthetist did a couple of femoral nerve blocks to make him more comfortable, and once Chupsi got some strength, he seemed to feel ok when he was up using his walker,” says Patrice. The team located Chupsi’s brother, who began to bring food and help with daily physiotherapy exercises. However, he was limited in what he could do for Chupsi financially.
Patrice contacted Handicap International, which was providing post-earthquake assistance in an area over an hour away. They agreed to come and do a 2-day mobile clinic for Chupsi and other patients. “We wanted them to assess him and make physiotherapy recommendations so that we could strengthen his mobility while we tried to figure out a way to get his hip replacement done,” explains Patrice.
Canadian nurse Patrice Gordon with Chupsi who
received care at the Red Cross field hospital.
Patrice left Nepal in late July and nurse Kirsty Robertson arrived in Dhunche and has shared the happy outcome of the story. “Through collaboration with Handicap International, Mr. Smiley was accepted for a free total hip joint replacement procedure at a Médecins Sans Frontières-supported facility about six hours away,” says Kirsty. “In addition, Handicap International will arrange for any future transfers, give rehabilitation and physiotherapy post-surgery, and train Chupsi’s brother to assist in his recovery period.”
“When we explained to him through simple, made-up sign language that he is finally going for surgery…well, you’ll see from the photos. It was a very happy and successful day for all of us at the Red Cross hospital in Dhunche,” says Kirsty.
For Patrice, now home in B.C., it was also a great day when she received this news.
“I'm over the moon excited about Mr. Smiley!” she says. “Visiting him was the best part of my day! The nurses and other patients would laugh their heads off as I gestured and mimed, and Mr. Smiley and I laughed our way through the conversation.”
“What a great guy,” Patrice adds, “So positive in spite of all his challenges.”
We wish Chupsi well, that his surgery is successful, and that he continues to light up Dhunche with his great smiles.