A father’s love brings hope
Rosemerlie’s father bends down to gently kiss her cheek.
A pediatrician with the UN gently lifts Rosemerlie, with the help of her father, to consult with a wound specialist.
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - His only hope for his daughter was a letter.
It was a simple reference letter, the airport worker told our Operation Blessing team, that he hoped would grant him permission to get inside the UN hospital and get medical treatment for his 4-year-old Rosemerlie, whose tiny leg was lacerated and most likely fractured from being crushed in the quake.
The team knew, however, it would take much more to get inside the UN than just a letter, which he kept safely tucked inside his shirt pocket like a guarded treasure – a treasure as precious to him as the little girl he gently cradled in his arms.
As suspected, the letter was not enough.
Fortunately, it was OBI’s clearance that saw them past the gated entrance and a doctor’s compassion that gave Rosemerlie and her father the help they so desperately needed.
“Oui, chérie…je sais,” coaxed the pediatrician to Rosemerlie, as the young girl cried out when the doctor reached out to examine her leg.
Very carefully, she began to peel back the 2-day old bandages that had been crudely taped to Rosemerlie’s leg.
The 4-year-old sat stoically in her bright green baseball cap and pink-and-white tweety-bird lace dress, her gaze fixed intently on the doctor’s gentle hands.
“I don’t care about the letter,” the doctor said. “You bring a child to me and I’m going to see her.”
A little while later, Rosemerlie’s father carried her from the UN compound – a white temporary soft cast covering her leg from her knee to her foot – and carefully climbed into the back seat of the OBI truck.
The next day, she would get a special splint and removable cast made so they could keep her leg wounds clean and prevent infection.
There were no words for the father’s gratitude.
On the ride back to the airport, Rosemerlie’s eyes grew heavy with sleep as she lay in her daddy’s arms, her older brother seated next to her and looking on.
With the same gentle touch of the doctors who had treated Rosemerlie, her father removed her hat, bent down, and softly kissed her cheek.
Rosemerlie would be OK – and letter or no letter – that’s all he needed to know.
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