A couple of years back, Nestor had broken his left ring finger and Tito brought him to the hospital. Tito left Nestor in a room with a nurse, and when he came back into the room, the nurses had given Nestor a local anesthetic and were holding him down and cutting off his finger with a sturdy pair of scissors. Tito could not believe his eyes, and the nurses impatiently told him that there were not enough medicines or doctors to fix the finger, so they were cutting it off.
Nestor was sitting in the back seat of the car with us, and showed us his missing ring finger. Tito summed up the story- "this hospital is terrible." We were shocked. Tito then continued by telling us a different story:
Last week, Tito's son and one of his employees had been hit by stray machine gun bullets on the streets of Colon. His son was hit in the forehead, but fortunately the bullet did not pierce his skull. Because of his previous experience with the Colon hospital, Tito paid to have his son driven two hours in a private ambulance to a hospital in Panama City. Tito's son is currently recovering in the hospital and it looks like he will be OK. Tito went to visit him there after dropping us off at the supermarket.
A couple of our friends who are cruising sailors had their own frightening experience: they were on their way back to Colon from Panama City in a taxi cab last week when they suddenly heard the sound of shattering glass. A large rock broke through the driver's side window and hit our friend in the shoulder. Apparently, someone on the side of the road tried to hit the driver with a rock so that the taxi would crash and they could rob the passengers. Luckily, the driver was able to continue to the next police station. Our friends finished their ride to Colon in an ambulance and went to the hospital to have the shoulder examined. Faced with a long wait and hefty fees for an X-ray, our friend had the shoulder bandaged up and left the hospital (thankfully, she is doing fine).
These stories remind us of how dangerous the cities in Panama can be, and that even innocent bystanders could be hurt by the violence. Also, we had an extra incentive not to get hurt - the hospital could very well worsen the problem!
Questions:
How would you feel if you broke your finger and there were not enough doctors at the hospital to fix it?
Would you be especially careful not to get hurt if you knew the hospital did not have enough doctors?
Are you aware of dangers or violence in the city where you live? Can you think of any ideas on how to reduce or avoid violence?
WWI
