Dr. Nathalie Laurent tragically lost her life at a time when the country is desperately short of health workers
Heavily armed bandits wreaked havoc in Delmas 28 on the weekend of March 3.
To escape the storm of bullets, a couple fled urgently to Delmas 31.
As they hurried back to their emergency home on Monday, March 4, several bullets fired by a bandit crossed their car in Delmas 24.
Seriously injured in the abdomen, the woman, Nathalie Laurent, was rushed to the Bernard Mevs hospital: the centre was closed.
The family runs to the OFATMA hospital in Cité-Militaire. But the anaesthetist, who had to rush to the hospital for surgery, had to turn back because of heavy gunfire on the road to the airport.
Read also: Haiti: Hospitals overwhelmed by events
After many steps, the victim was urgently transferred to another health facility in Fragneau-Ville.
But after nine days in hospital, her fight for life ended on March 12, 2024: the young doctor, Nathalie Laurent, died.
Dr. Nathalie Laurent
«It’s an unbearable ordeal to witness the loss of a loved one in front of your own eyes, helpless,» Jean Rosvald Laurent, the victim’s husband, told AyiboPost.
A doctor at the Grace Children’s Hospital in Delmas 31, Nathalie Laurent still refused to leave her country. This «tragically exposed her to insecurity,» her husband said.
After nine days in hospital, her fight for life ended on March 12, 2024: the young doctor, Nathalie Laurent, died.
Born in Gonaïves in 1977, Laurent has dedicated nearly sixteen years of her professional life to serving Haiti.
The only child in her family, she completed her secondary education in her hometown before pursuing higher education at the Faculty of Medicine of the Université Lumière in Port-au-Prince between 1997 and 2004.
In December 2013, Laurent married lawyer Jean Rosvald Laurent, a member of the bar of the Mirebalais Bar Association.
His professional commitments are manifold. For example, Laurent has worked at the Cholera Treatment Center (CTC) of Médecins Sans Frontières in Martissant or as a member of the medical staff of the Church of God in Delmas 17.
Read also: Photos | Eight days of terror in Haiti
Nadia Leblanc Jeanty, a nurse and long-time work companion of the deceased at Grace Children’s Hospital for nearly twelve years, could hardly contain the extent of her sadness.
«In my years as a nurse, I have never met such a tireless doctor,» she says, noting Laurent’s «exemplary» dedication. «She provided care with unparalleled tenderness, treating each patient with the care befitting members of her own family.»
Stéphane Michel, a doctor who was present at the scene at the time of Laurent’s admission to the OFATMA hospital, reacted shocked by this news.
«This is a situation that describes the magnitude of a context in Haiti where no one is spared,» says Dr. Michel, who regrets that health professionals have no structure «or resources available that could come to our rescue in case of need to provide timely health care.»
Born in Gonaïves in 1977, Laurent has dedicated nearly sixteen years of her professional life to serving Haiti.
Described as a person who never gave up despite the country’s situation, Dr. Nathalie Laurent has passed the gun to the left at a time when the country is sorely lacking in health workers.
Read also: Their teachers leave Haiti, UEH medical students face the test of online courses
Long before the acceleration of insecurity in 2021, studies reported that 40% of doctors trained in Haiti had fled the country. 13% of them find refuge in the United States.
In a 2017 report, the World Health Organization (WHO) stated that the country has an average of 5.9 doctors or nurses, and 6.5 health professionals for every 10,000 inhabitants. These figures are far from the minimum recommendations of the international organization.
«It’s a loss for the medical community, for Haiti, for the family, and it’s only regret, in a country where nothing works,» said her husband, Jean Rosvald Laurent, frustrated.
The lawyer does not even intend to file a complaint because, according to him, it would be an «unnecessary act».
The state «has failed in its mission,» he told AyiboPost.
Cover image: Doctor Nathalie Laurent. | © Her Facebook account
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