Some would call me a community activist. I'm involved in several service organizations, one being Rotary. I'm also a frequent flyer in the letters to the editor section of our local newspaper. I like to know what's going on and I definitely have an opinion about it! I keep my eye out for projects that are related to kids in particular. Recently, our Rotary Club hosted a guest speaker, Dr. Sean Bush. Some of you may know him from his documentary series "Venom E.R.". Dr. Bush is a venomologist. He lives here locally and works at Loma Linda University Medical Center. He is one of a rare breed of docs who take care of the victims of snake bites, spider bites, and anything related to venom. In the Pacific Southwest, as well as many other parts of the U.S., we have a fair amount of venomous snakes. Kids are particularly vulnerable, not only because of their size (closer to the ground), but also because many children are fearless and don't realize the danger snakes pose. The venom also affects them more acutely. Dr. Bush's own two year old son was the victim of a rattlesnake bite, so it can happen to anyone.
As an evenomation expert, Dr. Bush travels around the globe studying and helping snake bite victims. As part of a project to film the dangers of snake bites, Dr. Bush traveled with a film crew and team to Swaziland, a tiny country nestled in South Africa. In remote villages in this region, there is very little anti-venom (if any) and hospitals are almost non-existent. Many people, including children, are bitten by venomous snakes there while they are sleeping. Their homes are typically not very secure and are very small shanties with holes throughout, so the snakes come in at night looking for food.
Zamo is a sweet two-year-old girl who was sleeping when she was bitten on the foot by a poisonous snake that had entered her shelter at night. There was very little help for her as her foot swelled up and the venom traveled through her veins. The skin and muscle tissue on her foot began to slough off, leaving her bones and tendons exposed from the lower part of her shin down to her toes. She was unable to walk and her foot began to turn outward. It's hard to imagine the pain she must have endured in the days after the snake bite. She had to endure a great deal.
When Dr. Bush saw her and began treatment, he realized that it wouldn't be possible to provide the the type and scope of help Zamo needed there in Africa. She needed to be in a place with advanced medical equipment, a support team of surgeons, and the appropriate medications to help her in the best way possible. Dr. Bush managed to get through the diplomatic red tape and was able to have her flown from Swaziland (a 24 hour process) to California to Loma Linda University Medical Center, here in the Inland Empire, where treatment has helped her a great deal. Her wounds were cleaned and prepped and she is currently undergoing a series of skin grafts to enable her skin to re-grow. She has had and will need additional physical therapy. Her foot has been saved. Seeing the wound, I marvel at the fact that all of her toes were able to be spared. Zamo is going to be okay, if somewhat scarred. The amount of treatment and the medical costs are no doubt staggering.
In the meantime, through all of the treatment, Zamo and her mother are staying at the Ronald McDonald House in Loma Linda. She has spent a great deal of time at Dr. Bush's home as well. He is obviously a very dedicated doctor, and is committed to making a difference in the life of this child, and others. I am hoping to find ways to assist Dr. Bush in the non-medical care of Zamo and the children who will follow in her footsteps.
The current economy isn't very forgiving and many people don't have as much to donate to charitable causes as they would like, myself included. But we can all make a difference if we each do a little and combine it. I'd like to send Zamo and Dr. Bush some help. She and the other children who are and will be facing these types of medical emergencies need everything from the basic necessities to donations for food and shipping, as well as interpreters. This all comes at a cost. If you need tax deductions this year for charitable gifts, or if you just want to help a little girl regain the use of her foot, please take a look at a few of the sites listed below.
http://lomalindahealth.org/medical-center/our-services/emergency/programs-and-divisions/venom-er/our-doctors/index.html
http://www.llu.edu/news/newsstory.html?id=1578
Here are the ways we can help:
Donations may be sent to Loma Linda via;
L.L.U.C.H. Foundation
11175 Mountain View Ave.
Loma Linda, CA 92354
Attention: Mindy 909-558-3154
Please indicate on your check: Snakebite Victims/Dr. Sean Bush, from ALOL Families
Another way to help is to send contributions to:
Ronald McDonald House
11365 Anderson St.
Loma Linda, CA 92354
909-558-8300
Gifts appreciated include cash donations, gift cards for restaurants (check with Ronald McDonald House), gift cards for places like Wal-Mart and Target where clothing can be purchased, and new children's toys and books. If you can just do a small amount on a gift card or want to assist in purchasing a gift card, let me know and I can combine several gifts to purchase a gift card. We can make a difference.
I hope to set up a fund for snake bite kits which include anti-venom and can be sent to some of these remote areas where they have no hospitals and certainly no venomologists available to help. Anyone who has resources for any of these options should contact me. I know many of you would be happy to donate outgrown children's clothing and I may take you up on that if I can find a way to get everything shipped to Swaziland.
Please forward this information to as many friends and relatives as you can so that we can get the word out. Dr. Bush was able to provide a picture of Zamo and if a picture says a thousand words, then you understand that this child and others like her go through an incredible amount of pain and anguish. We can help.
Dr. Bush is doing his part and I'm hoping we can pitch in and help so that kids in forgotten parts of the world will have a chance to recover from snake bites. They deserve the same chances as children born in areas quick to provide medical care. I'm counting on my wonderful adoptive families and readers of my blog and newsletter to come through. As a group, we can change the lives of some children and perhaps even save some.
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