The doors of the elevator opened, and there she was.  It was Lisemene.  I had heard this girl’s tragic story shortly after the Haiti earthquake a year ago.  We have a video clip of Dr. Mark Sinclair, one of the CURE doctors from the U.A.E. who volunteered in Haiti during those early days after the quake, telling her story.  I remember watching it and feeling devastated just thinking about what life would be like for Lisemene – now living without her legs that were crushed under the rubble from a fallen building and without her family who abandoned her because they didn’t want to deal with her disability.  Even worse, when her family left her at the hospital, they took her 5-year-old son with them.

I’m certain that there are similar stories in Haiti, and too many of them probably end right here.  But not for Lisemene.  The one positive out of all of this is that she was taken to the hospital where CURE was working, and she wasn’t forgotten when her initial wounds were healed.

A generous donor, who also volunteered with CURE in Haiti, wanted to make sure she received care.  We were able to provide her with prosthetics and physical therapy.  After many months of wading through paperwork and bureaucratic roadblocks, she was able to travel to CURE’s hospital in the Dominican Republic.  There she received better prosthetics and more therapy.

The day I met her, I sensed her sadness, but I also saw her beautiful smile and deep appreciation for CURE and the donor who cared enough about her to make sure her story didn’t end in devastation but instead had hope.

Watching her walk across the hospital ward, I knew it had.  Oh yeah, I should tell you that her son, quiet and shy, watched her make that walk too.

Below is a video of Lisemene walking. (I was lucky enough to get a hug at the end.)