Shay helping in Haiti
Staff Writer
PRESQUE ISLE — A local doctor is making a difference for those affected by the devastating earthquakes that struck Haiti last month.
Eva Shea, D.O., of Presque Isle, who owns and operates Well Spring Health Center at the Aroostook Centre Mall with her husband, Tom, decided to put her knowledge to use, volunteering to join other medical professionals from across the United States in helping earthquake victims.
Dr. Shay, a Navy veteran and a doctor of osteopathy, has been in Haiti since the beginning of February, serving as a short-term medical missionary with the American Baptist International Ministries. Volunteer medical professionals stay in Haiti throughout the week, returning to the Dominican Republic on the weekend to restock and pick up more volunteers as they arrive.
“Eva took a month off to travel to Haiti to help with the relief work just after the earthquake,” said Tom Shay, noting that his wife has been able to share her experience through an online blog. “Many may not know that she has been able to post messages to her office blog so we could follow the events of her work.”
He said that he was able to set up a phone for her to use while in Haiti.
“We fixed up an old Smart Phone which she uses for communicating with us through the blog,” said Tom.
On the blog, located at www.WellSpringHealthCenter.com, Eva has been posting regularly, sharing details of her daily routine and the devastation she’s seen first-hand. On her first day, she and other volunteers set up a clinic in what remained of an elementary school.
“We held the clinic in the only classroom still stable. About 12 to 13 clinicians saw 527 patients in a little less than five hours,” wrote Eva in a blog entry for Feb. 3. “I did well most of the time, treating a lot of coughs due to the cement dust and headaches and abdominal pain due to insufficient water and food.”
Volunteers were able to communicate with victims, with the help of translators who sat in when needed. Eva’s first day proved a tough one. A mother herself, Eva found the stories of loss to be heart-wrenching.
“I lost it and cried when one woman told me that she had lost her 10-year-old daughter in the earthquake. I showed her my 10-year-old daughter’s photo, and then my son’s photo and we both cried,” Eva posted on the blog.
Specializing in back and hip manipulation in her Presque Isle practice, Eva has been able to help patients with a variety of lower back pain. She has also put her Navy medical experience to use, treating various other problems, including panic attacks, a diabetic patient who’d been unable to obtain insulin, as well as a number of non-life-threatening medical issues.
“Most of our patients are ‘walk-in clinic’ type patients, clearing the ED for the real urgent cases and the ED doctors,” noted Eva in another post.
With one week remaining for her in Haiti before returning home to her family and practice, Eva continues to post regular blog entries.
“I thought it might be interesting to many in Aroostook County to read her personal experiences while there. Many of them have been quite moving. She has one week left before she returns and I thought folks might want to read her entries,” said Tom.
For more information on the relief effort, including making a donation, contact 762-9531.
