Angels Round About Them

 

"I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up." D&C 84:88

  

Eleven missionaries were traveling from Malawi to Lusaka, Zambia, in two separate vehicles on 2 January 2023. It was about 1:00-1:30 in the afternoon; it was raining so the roads were a little bit slick, even though it was very warm. They were coming around a curve when an oncoming car was in their lane. Elder Masengere swerved to avoid a head on collision. The side of the road had a small embankment, large enough that it flipped the Ford Ranger over that five missionaries were in. Elder Masengere, Elder Wantoe, Elder Church, Sister Ward, and Sister Keitirile. The flipped car did not roll, but spun around and slid on its top on the pavement. The on coming car just sped away!

The other missionaries traveling in the van was close behind and saw the accident. They quickly got out of their vehicle to assist. They helped Elder Wantoe get out first, followed by Elder Masengere and Sister Keitirile. The other two were trapped inside. Some bush people were close by and came to help. They managed to lift the car so the others could get out. 

Elder Church had been riding in the front passenger seat with his seat belt on. Somehow...and this was just one miracle...he was forced to the back seat. Where he had been sitting originally was totally smashed.

They managed to get to a clinic about 10-15 minutes away. I didn't see this clinic but was told it was awful!! An ambulance came and took them to a hospital...if you could call it that! 

       

                              

              

Hal and I were dispatched to go rescue everyone. They were about 250 km (155 miles) away from Lusaka. It took us 4 1/2 hours to drive there. All two way and horrible roads!! Not all of the roads were as bad as the ones shown in the picture above. However, even on the paved roads there were a gazillion potholes.

                                                   

At one point we hit a pot hole so deep that the alarm in the car went off. I was frantically trying to find in the car's owner manual how to reset it. Couldn't find anything. We kept driving anyway. Hal called a Ford dealership and he made the suggestion to undo the battery. Of course we didn't have any tools. Somehow...another tiny miracle...when Hal opened the hood of the car and closed it again, the alarm stopped!! We had two hours to go and then return. That alarm would have driven us all crazy!!!

Two Elders had been left at a police check point to guard all the luggage that the truck had been carrying. They were pretty shook up when we finally got to them. It was dark. We still had about 30 more minutes to get to that hospital. We didn't stay long here but just found out where the others were. We passed the the scene of the accident, where we took a couple of pictures and then continued on.

The hospital, like I said before, if you could really call it that, was about 1 mile down the worst potholed road!! The building was big but so old and falling apart! When we walked in to where the missionaries were I could hardly keep from crying! They were so discouraged, dejected, all covered in blood, laying on awful beds or sitting in wheel chairs. Hal described it as a scene from some WWII battlefield! The missionaries described the first place the wounded were taken to as "a shack” the second hospital “the ghetto.”

We quickly gave them all hugs, tried to console them. I helped one sister to the bathroom...it was horrible: toilet was broken, wobbly and the seat was broken, it wouldn't flush, there was no water (this was a hospital!!!) Thankfully, I had put in some toilet paper in my bag. We managed to get them to the van. It was hard to figure out how to situate them; knowing they had some severe injuries but not sure what. They were all in a lot of pain!

                                             

Trying to get them as comfortable as possible but it was SO hard!!

Another miracle was that I had put in my bag a few days ago some Ibuprofen. I had enough to give each of the five, two pills, two times. Surely not enough but it seemed to help take a small edge off. If nothing else it gave them all a sense of "someone is taking care of me" hope.

The drive back to Lusaka was forever long! I’m sure we hit every pothole!! I was sitting between the two most injured, holding their hands, trying to reassure them especially every time we hit a hole. All of the injured relived the accident with every bump and would cry out! We took the road home slower than when we came.

Finally, at about 2:30 in the morning we got to the hospital in Lusaka. It takes SOOO LOOONG in emergency rooms!! 

  

Elder Masengere, the driver, got off with one teeny tiny scratch on his arm. He is standing next to Elder Wantoe who had some bumps on his head but okay! He gave us a thumbs-up that he was alright.                                      

Sister Keitirile had glass penetrate the back of her hand. The first place of medical attention put stitches in her hand. Later the Doctor in Lusaka discover pieces of glass, severed tendons and a damaged muscle. She has had one surgery but because of infection setting in already she will have another one to restore the severed tendons.

                                              

Sister Ward has multiple fractures in her back (not on the main back bone but other bones extending from there) and her shoulder. Possible dislocation. She will go back home to St. George as soon as arrangements can be made.

      

Elder Church is tough! We thought Sister Ward had the most extensive injuries but Elder Church out did her. The fractures in his back are load bearing. He can’t bend, lift, or stand very long. He will have surgery as soon as we can get him back to the states.

He is sporting a new haircut that Elder Wantoe and I gave him.

  The hospitals here in Lusaka are…interesting. CT scans were performed at a second hospital and MRIs were done at a third hospital.

I rode in the ambulance with Sister Ward. Elder Church was taken later.                                                

After spending hours at one of the hospitals we came out to our car blocked in by another car. Unknowingly, we had parked in his spot! Oops!

I was certainly frustrated with the care here! The nurses hardly do anything. I finally got angry and demanded that the patients get cleaned up and given showers! No toothbrushes, toothpaste, shampoo, or even towels were provided for use!!

At first I was told Sister Ward couldn’t stand to take a shower but I said, “She can sit! Find her a chair!”

I assisted with a shower each time. I tried really hard to get all the blood out of her hair, it was SO caked and matted; it felt like sticks in her hair. The first shower, the nurse filled a plastic tub with water and I scooped out water, with a pitcher, as I poured it over her head. I was so afraid to hurt her more. 

The next day I thought this is ridiculous. Even though they told me that the shower didn’t have hot water, I tried it anyway. Worked just fine!!! Got more blood out of her hair. I brought a comb with me this time and literally handfuls of hair fell out as I ever so gently combed her hair.

Recovering from the first surgery on her hand. They gave her the glass pieces taken from her hand.

                                        

                           Daytime images of the wrecked truck after it was towed back to Lusaka.

                                                 

                                          She looks happy but she’s quite emotional right now.

How grateful I am that injuries were not any worse. They will all heal! But I can’t wait to get them under their own families care.

We were informed this evening that Elder Church’s injury if surgery was performed here they would put two rods in his back and he would never be able to tie his shoes again. The states will do a 3-D imaging type surgery and after a long recovery he should be okay. In Elder Church’s words, he is “devastated.”