Two seemingly unrelated stories appeared on different section covers of The Columbian a few days ago.
One of Wednesday’s stories noted the anniversary of the earthquake in Haiti, highlighting the involvement of local people in the disaster.
A story on the lead sports page reported the final voting in The Associated Press college football poll, where Oregon finished third behind national champion Auburn and Texas Christian University.
There was a link: It went through Forward Edge International, a nonprofit organization based in Vancouver.
Forward Edge has mobilized about 500 people for disaster assistance or recovery assignments in Haiti since the Caribbean nation was devastated on Jan. 12, 2010. While many were local residents, one of the volunteers was Dr. Sam Haraldson, the physician for TCU’s athletic program.
Haraldson is a longtime friend of Forward Edge founder Joe Anfuso and Vancouver firefighter-paramedic Joe Schrater, who was part of a federal emergency medical team dispatched to Haiti right after the quake.
In March, Anfuso asked Schrater to head up a Forward Edge medical mission in Haiti. Schrater asked the Horned Frogs’ team doctor to come along.
“Sam and I grew up together in California,” said Schrater. “He was my brother’s best friend. I called him and said, ‘Sam, I need you.’”
‘Watching kids die’
After that trip, Haraldson talked with Stefan Stevenson, a reporter with the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. During one busy stretch, Haraldson saw 126 patients in the span of four hours. He had four patients die, including the first case — a newborn boy.
Another fatality was an 8-year-old boy who came in with an infection, barely breathing. Interpreters had to tell the boy’s parents there was nothing the team could do for him.
“So you’re basically watching these kids die in front of you,” Haraldson said.
But there were plenty of success stories, too, he told the reporter. The trip also gave Haraldson a new outlook on his profession, putting things like an injured knee ligament in perspective, he said.
“With a blown ACL, you’re not going to die,” he said.
Off Beat lets members of The Columbian news team step back from our newspaper beats to write the story behind the story, fill in the story or just tell a story.
