Hope for Haiti

Posted April 16, 2010

Images of Haiti spurred Dr. Cobb's motivation to help relieve the suffering.

THE FIRST RESPONSE to overwhelming loss and catastrophic destruction of the kind seen in Haiti on January 12, 2010, is simply awe and disbelief. The second response is often the impetus to do something—anything—to help relieve the suffering caused by the earthquake. For most people, that means sending money.

Dr. Peter Cobb, a physician and chief of staff at Stonecrest Medical Center in Smryna, Tenn., did something immediate and powerful: he went to Haiti to help firsthand. Working through the Chadasha Foundation, a group of Christian doctors and business people organizing relief efforts in Haiti for more than a decade, Cobb offered his services as a doctor at a clinic in Port-au-Prince.

“After putting my name in the hat, I got a phone call asking me to be on a plane to Haiti in six days,” Cobb says. “When I saw the pictures, I knew that was a place I needed to be to help in some small way.”

And by helping, he indirectly allowed many others who wished to do more than just send money—as vital and helpful as that is—to participate in a different kind of giving for the people of Haiti. Many people in the community of Smyrna contributed supplies, funds, gear, logistical support, and time that made his trip possible. Help poured in from the Rotary Club, Stonecrest Medical Center, friends, his office staff, local pharmacies, medical equipment companies, even people Cobb had never met before. That ripple effect spread beyond his greatest expectations.

One of those ripples—conveying the desperate need for a reliable way to get medical staff to and from Haiti—made its way to Regions. “Regions immediately offered the use of their company aircraft for on-going weekly flights carrying medical teams of eight directly to Port-au-Prince to bring medical relief as well as food and supplies to the people of Haiti,” explains Joshua Russo, Program and Development Coordinator of Project Sharewood, a non-profit partnering with Chadasha Foundation on Haiti relief efforts.

After a 2.4-hour flight from Knoxville, Tenn., to Haiti, Cobb, two other physicians and four nurses hit the ground running, and began seeing patients almost immediately. Their hospital was in the capital with a tent city of people outside the grounds waiting for treatment as well as in another clinic inside a compound where the medical staff slept at night. For one day when he was the only doctor attending, Cobb essentially ran the hospital emergency room himself.

“When working at the clinic, I saw a range of patients with concerns similar to what we see in the United States: colds, scabies, heartburn, stomach bugs, and so on,” Cobb says. “Working in the hospital, it was mostly wound care, amputations, suturing and draining abscesses. They are getting good care, they really are.”

Despite all the trauma and challenges Haitians have endured the past few months, Cobb relishes the simplicity of doing what he is trained to do. “I didn’t have to worry about anything other than taking care of my patients, talking with them, and providing the best medical care I could,” he continues. “They’ve been through so much. The Haitians made a big impression on me. They are patient people. They are a pleasure.”

Amid all the devastation, the pain, the exposure to the elements, the temporary housing, and the daily struggles faced by Haitians, Cobb discovered that following your instincts is almost always right. He and his wife, Susan, now hope to raise funds to build a school and then an orphanage in Haiti. They are actively planning a second trip to the island of Hispaniola for just that purpose.

“I’ve been given the gift of a medical license, and I realize my purpose was to share that gift,” Cobb states. “Sometimes you just see clarity in what you’re doing—and it is life changing.”

For more information and photos from Dr. Cobb’s trip, see www.susancobb.blogspot.com.

Everyone has a story.