Special flight for 20-year-old expectant mother

14.11.2011

Inadequate medical equipment leads to an unplanned flight to Lodwar.

Friday afternoon, the Heli Aviation crew and their helicopter are still working in the area around Lokichoggio in the Turkana region. For days here in the flood zone, German Help Three has been transporting high-calorie foods, required medicines, medical personnel and staff of the various relief organisations by air to the villages and camps cut off from the outside world.

During the course of the relief flights, the team of the German Help Three helicopter lands in Kaikor, approximately 120 km from Lokichoggio. Here the Italian together with the Kenyan Red Cross have set up a small medical station to provide first aid. Even before the helicopter has landed, an employee of the Italian relief organisation requests our support to transport a young Kenyan woman to the nearest hospital, approximately 200 km away.

Since all land routes are impassable, the Heli Aviation helicopter, German Help Three, is in the right place at the right time - it takes the expectant mother to Lodwar.

To ensure that the admission procedure in the hospital takes as little time as possible after landing, the crew accompanies the expectant mother and an employee of the Italian Red Cross from the airfield to the clinic. After performing a quick examination,, the doctor quickly decides he must operate. Thirty minutes after landing, the 20-year-old is on the operating table of the team of doctors. Unfortunately, the chances of the unborn child surviving were already very slim before arrival in Lodwar. But the news that only the mother has survived the operation upsets the crew of the Heli Aviation helicopter and makes for a depressed mood on the return flight.

Nevertheless, the positive side of the transport mission is brought home by the co-ordinator and paramedic of the Italian Red Cross during the stopover in Kaikor. With the words – "We would probably have lost both of them if the German Help Three helicopter hadn't been there. We wouldn’t have had the means to treat her" - he sends the crew on their way back to Lokichoggio.

Have a look at our photo gallery for the Kenya relief project here or visit German Help Three on Facebook.

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