ok...here we go

this story is a tough one to share

but, I feel like it's necessary for several reasons as we continue to journey together. admittedly, one of which is selfish, as it will help us from having to detail it over and over again as we journey through this. only a small handful of people know details at this point, so hopefully it help with context for our community and answer some questions. warning though, it's graphic and disturbing. 

so, Sunday morning Adrianne and I got in a truck with a missionary doctor, Theresa, who is great friends with the Pye's, to drive back the 2.5 hour trip to Port-Au-Prince to catch our plane back to the states. It's a beautiful drive that takes you from the coast, over the mountains, and back on the other side to the coast where the international airport is.

About an hour into the trip at the peak of the mountains, right in front of us, (30-40 feet) a motorcycle collided head on with an on coming car.

That event will forever be a part of our lives.

We watched as a young man flew into the air and crashed to the ground.

We immediately screeched to a halt and all I remember is the doctor saying, "he's dead." It was that bad.

We jumped out of the car. Theresa discovered that he amazingly had a pulse. She yelled "Jonathan, we have to get him into the truck"

There was a moment there, where a ton rushed through my brain. Mainly because, I knew just the day before I had slid on some rocks and had scraped up my leg pretty good over about a 6 inch area in length. And I was facing a situation with a lot of unknown blood. You can imagine all that floods through in that moment.

On the run over though, somehow I had somewhat of a peace, in the midst of the fear, that God put Theresa, Adrianne, and I in this moment for a reason.

So, Theresa and I picked him up and carried him to the back of the pickup truck. His head was wounded badly. One leg and one arm were severed. Theresa asked me to jump in the back and hold his head up.

Suddenly though, Adrianne discovered another man lying over the guard rail. And then another was discovered. Still to this day, we have no idea where they were when the accident happened. Whether they were on the bike and we somehow missed seeing them or whether they were walking alongside the road. No idea.

So, now we're loading 2 more guys into the back of the truck. Each had legs that had been severed completely.

Theresa yells for a knife and a belt and my clothes. She makes a tourniquet and asks me to tighten it as hard as I can and then jumps into the driver's seat. In what previously seemed like a deserted area, suddenly tons of people come out the mountains and start wailing. Two Haitians jump into the back of the cab with Adrianne and Theresa tells them to get in the back of the truck with me. Later on I learned that it's very culturally taboo for Haitians to touch blood or the dead. 

Theresa takes off. Flying. Adrianne, who by the way, stayed amazingly calm and was incredibly helpful, (I was so proud of her) sticks her head out the window and is passing me clothes from my bag with instructions from Theresa to stuff clothes in the wounds and apply pressure. 

By God's grace the Creole words I picked up that week were incredibly helpful in barking out instructions. 

Now, being a pastor for 13 years, I've been around a lot. But I've never been around anything close to this.

The next hour was one of the longest of our lives as we drove through the winding mountains and at times, challenging terrain. The gate of the truck was down so that we could fit the guys in (they were all late teens, early 20's). So, I was clinging to the side of the truck with one hand trying not to fly out the back as we had to stop and go suddenly in the midst of third world traffic. With the other hand, I was trying to hold the boys down, as they would come in and out of consciousness in delirium and try to sit up, holding their hands,and keep pressure on their wounds. Early on, Adrianne threw back gauze to try to wrap my leg in but in the struggle of keeping the boys down it would slide off and I had too much blood on my hands to try to keep covering my leg up.

So, I prayed. I sang quietly. I prayed some more. I prayed for Jesus to save these boys' lives and give us all strength. At one point one of the healthy Haitian friends in the back of the truck, looked at his friend, looked at me, motioned toward me in a way and spoke in a way that seemed encouraging and then pointed up to the sky and said, "Jesus." It was a very simple and encouraging confirmation of my prayer for Jesus' presence to be evident from a guy I never met and who couldn't speak any English. Somehow, Jesus always undeniably translates in any culture.

After more than an hour we finally arrived at a hospital. They took the young men in on a stretcher and that was the last time I saw them.

An American doctor was there and quickly assessed my leg and the amount of blood. As you imagine the bed of the truck filled with a lot of blood and it was soaked through my clothes, on my feet, knees and hands. However, there was no dried or pooled blood around my open wound area. We washed off the visible blood with a hose, and quickly put some iodine on the open wound area. 

At this point, I had given up trying to make it to the airport...early on conceding to staying the night in Port Au Prince. But Theresa said she thought we had a shot to make it and there was nothing else we could do.

So, we jumped into her truck again. I stripped off ALL my clothes, and grabbed one of the few outfits left in my bag. Again, amazingly, we made it to the airport just in time and made the flight to NY. 

We made a few phone calls and incredible friends went into action. Praying. Fasting. Calling my doctor and finding out next steps. My doctor is incredible as well. He was in Colorado at the time and worked through ridiculous hours to help us, do research, and lay out the options.

As previously mentioned, upon arriving in NY, our plane was delayed and delayed again till nearly 1 am. We finally arrived home close to 3 am. Where another wonderful friend picked us up and took us to the emergency room, per my doctor's advice, for blood work and an assessment of next steps. 

Now, every doctor that I've spoken to says that my chances of contracting HIV, or Hep B or Hep C are EXTREMELY low considering the superficial nature of the wounds on my leg and the amount of possible exposure to the wounded area and the fact that the boys appeared very healthy. At this point, the Haitian doctors are refusing to test the young men for Hep B, C, and HIV though there have been many "discussions" around this matter and we hope that their minds will change. So, let me emphasize again, the chances are EXTREMELY, EXTREMELY low of any type of infection.

But, in order to be able to look back and know that we tried everything possible in a worst case scenario type of situation, we've decided that I'll take an intense 30 day run of anti-viral medications and a regular series of blood work and monitoring for the next 6 months until we can medically confirm everything is clear. We had a short time frame to make that decision from the time of possible exposure so that's occupied a lot of the last 24 hours. 

So, there you go. 

A few final thoughts.

I'm SO thankful we were there at that moment. Those 3 young men would have certainly died on the spot and would have had no way of getting to a hospital in time if we weren't there.

How amazing God's providence is it that a doctor was driving us to the airport!

We got word yesterday that miraculously the 3 boys were fairly stable at that point and had a very good chance of survival. 

It was obviously an emotional and intense week, but it only caused us to be reassured of how much God is doing and wants to do through our community there. Our hearts were only more knit with Haiti and God's plans there.

Pray for these 3 young men. Pray for our staff and elders who have endured an intense, emotional, draining week of prayer and fasting and journeying through this with us on top of several other already emotional challenges. Pray for Adrianne and I. What we saw, experienced and endured will stick with us forever. Pray we sort through it and process it well. Pray for health protection and endurance through this round of medication and the next 6 months of waiting. Pray for the unique emotional challenges and temptations to worry over something we can't control.

Some have asked how we are doing. We're not sure how one is supposed to feel. A little numb, a little emotional at random points, tired, nervous, peaceful, trusting, and motivated to keep going. Our confidence is all the greater that God wants to use our community in revolutionary ways. 

Love and appreciate you all.

Comments

[Ava]

We will definitely keep you in our prayers!

[Jat & Julie]

You bet! We will be praying for you and Adrianne, your family, the three boys, and HCH.

[Kevin & Emily]

Adrianne and Jonathan~
We are praying, praying, praying. Going to Haiti and coming back without any major incidents can leave one emotional and forever changed, and all that you were up against last week...wow. Rest, recharge, and know that we are all lifting you both up.

[Karen Campbell]

An unbelievable story. How God works in such amazing ways to have you there at that moment. Stay strong - God is wonderful and amazing.

Anthony and I will be praying for you both and all down in Haiti.

Karen & Anthony

[Michelle Gisondi]

It's an amazing honor you were given. Praying for your health, peace of mind and God's continued blessings.

[Charissa]

Praying for your health and a peace during this time of waiting! I also have complete faith that you are 100% ok!

[Marilyn]

Hi Jonathan,

I haven't talked to you in years, but I read something that Shannon posted on Facebook about last week in Haiti, and then read the full story here. Wow. Im glad you and Adriane came out all right, and I will be thinking about you.

Love,
Marilyn

[Anna]

Words cannot even begin to describe the love and gratitude we all feel for you and Adrianne. Thank you so much for being such a wonderful force and change in this world. I will continue to pray for your health, peace and continued strength.

[Danielle]

This brought me to tears. God's presence is so alive in you and your family and our community.

Thank you for everything you do.

In faith and prayers

-Danielle

[Danielle]

This brought me to tears. God's presence is so alive in you and your family and our community.

Thank you for everything you do.

In faith and prayers

-Danielle

[Susan Kroll]

I am praying for you and so very proud of you and Adrianne. My heart is so filled that you would put yourself out in this way. Such an inspiration and an honor to know you both.

Thank you.

[Susan Kroll]

My mother had to take a 6 month course of antivirals due to a needle stick in caring for someone with AIDS. The combination of fear and pride during that uncertain time were very real, hard, and confusing. My heart reaches out for all the emotion you must be feeling. Thankfully, she came out healthy with no related illness. God still clearly had many more plans for her here. I believe and will pray the same is true for you.

[Ellen]

Whoa. That was some seriously extreme providence! So thankful you were there to help those men. We certainly will keep you in our prayers over this, Jonathan.

[Angela]

I found your blog through your sister Shannon. What an amazing testimony. We are praying for you.

[asnipofgodness]

Thank you for sharing your story, and know that I will be praying!

[Donna Cooper]

God's grace is certainly amazing, and evident in your life.

I don't know you, and found my way here through anothe link on another blog I've never read before. But I will never forget your story and remember you and these people you helped in my prayers.

I am sure God's faithfulness will prevail in your life, and you will see it!

Donna
www.HISgraceamazesme.blogspot.com

[Greg Tatum]

Jonathan: I am on call again tonight at St. V. and felt prompted to read your blog. You and Adrianne as always are in Linda's and my prayers. I can only imagine all of the intensity of this situation that continues to wash over you since you are both back in the States.
May the Lord bless you and keep you, may the Lord make His face to shine upon you, may the Lord lift up the light of His countenance upon you and give you His peace.

Our love to you, Adrianne, and the boys,

GT

[Amanda]

I am a little dumbfounded as to how to 'comment' on this... except but to give all the praise and glory to God. He wokrs in such amazing ways...
I pray you are healthy.

God bless-
Amanda

[gretchen]

I'm here from Becoming Me. Bless you for helping and for sharing.

"Jesus" What a perfect word.

Praying that you will be free from any health complications whatsoever.

[Nila]

Jonathan- I am not surprised by the heroic actions of you and Adriane in saving those young men's lives. You are special people and God is using you both in special ways. I will pray for you and for your work in NC and Haiti. God Bless You! We love you! Nila

[Bill Colburn]

Painful to read your story. licited memories. Been there, yet liked 'your' response to the situation. Henri Nouwen defined compassion as full immersion in the condition of being human. I'm glad God had you there for those young men & for those who witnessed.

Have you read, "Fields of the Fatherless", by Tom Davis (2008)?

[Debbie Cubberly]

Jonathan, Fred and I have you and Adriane in our prayers. May God continue to use both of you for His good. May God bless you and your family. We love and miss both of you.
Debbie & Fred

[Lisa Taylor]

Hallelujah--God is good! So happy to hear the results of your 6 month blood work. Lisa

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