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Bighearted HSA Staff Help Out
Alex Francisco Reyes (32) was hospitalized with a neck fracture on 23 March after being knocked off his bicycle in a hit-and-run accident on West Bay Road. “With no relatives on island and no income or insurance to fall back on, his situation touched our hearts. He desperately wanted to return home to his family and aging mother and we knew we had to do something for him,” said Chief Executive Officer Shirline Henriques. HSA staff worked on several options to get Alex’s home. A flight on a commercial airliner was ruled out after his condition suddenly deteriorated and an air ambulance had to be brought in. This meant considerably higher costs, but after word got out of Alex’s situation private donations started to flow in until they reached the US$14,800 target. “National Air Ambulance Service from F. Lauderdale, Florida, gave us its lowest quote possible, “said Acting Chief Nursing Officer Hazel Brown, who helped coordinate the arrangements. Alex’s siblings, delighted with the news that their brother is finally going home, couldn’t thank donors and everyone at the hospital enough for what they have done for him: “We are so happy that Alex can go home,” said sisters Ada Lorena, Mirna Leticia and Martha Isel Andino Reyes, who all came to visit him. To them, this kind act from staff revealed the depth of personal interest nurses and other staff members at George Town Hospital have for their patients. And Alex was in high spirits as he learned of his travel arrangements. He even mustered a smile, posing with his sisters and hospital staff for a farewell photo. However, Mrs Henriques also sounded a warning: “Due to immense compassion from others, Alex’s situation turned out for the best, but his case nevertheless highlights the need for employers to take care of their workers by ensuring that they have the required health insurance, even if they are only temporary workers,” she said. . The HSA managed to secure a receiving physician for Alex at a public hospital in Honduras and staff expressed their thanks to the following donors for making his trip home a reality: National Air Ambulance, Walkers, Rotary Sunrise and Rotary Grand Cayman, Executive Air, Calvary Baptist Church, New Testament Church of God, St. Ignatius Catholic Church, Embajadores de Dios, Mitch Extain, Luz Restaurant, Mario & Sons, Benny Moore, Ernst & Young, Walkers Road Texaco, CI Hospital Staff, Nurse French, Steve Hydes, Foster’s Fort Street, APS, Maples & Calder, TeleCayman, Cayman Islands Mission of Seventh-day Adventists, Light of the World Christian Fellowship, and the hundreds of private donors who chose to remain anonymous. And although his travel expenses have been covered, Alex still faces many medical expenses. Those who want to contribute can still call Hazel Brown at 914-2610 or Pauline French at 914-2631.
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In a display of compassion characteristic towards those under their care, HSA staff once again went beyond the call of duty recently, in helping a young patient return to his native Honduras after an accident left him paralysed.
