Out of Options...It's Been a Rough Week!

What do you do when you simply run out of options? Can you even imagine not having access to a hospital or emergency department in a time of need? Can you imagine if your child got sick and no place had the ability to help? These are just a couple of the questions we were faced with recently here in Haiti.

The biggest question is, what do you do when there are no options or answers? Our answer is simple, we will continue on the journey that God has called us to. While it is NOT an easy one, we will not stop until we see with our eyes open what God has showed us with our eyes closed.

We will NOT stop until we see with our eyes open what God has showed us with our eyes closed!

Last Sunday night, Frantzky was taken to a local hospital because he had been vomiting for the last 48 hours. His family had done all they could do to help him but he continued to get sicker with each passing moment. In the end, nothing we did could save Frantzky from the horrid Public Health options and services (or the lack thereof) available to him here. He died Monday evening at a 3rd hospital, surrounded by his mother, grandmother, some of our staff, and doctors who were all confused as to how things got this bad. He went untouched during the night by medical staff and was ignored throughout the night.

Before we talk about that, we have to start at the beginning, in 2012, when we were introduced to Frantzky. I'll do my best to give you a snapshot of his 9 years on this earth.

Frantzky was born with club feet, something that would have been almost immediately fixed had he been born less than 800 miles north of Haiti in Florida. Instead, Frantzky's birth mother saw him as different and very quickly distanced herself from him both emotionally as well as physically. She wanted nothing to do with him at times and at other times tried to have some sort of emotional bond with him. In the end, she believed he was undeserving of her love. His club feet meant that he would have a difficult time walking and therefore he would be an extra burden on her. So, like many others before her, she gave Frantzky to an orphanage, but later went back to get him because the orphanage suspected he had tuberculosis and would infect their other children. When he was found by a former staff member from myLIFEspeaks, who thought she heard an injured animal, Frantzky was very upset. This little 3 year old boy was laying by himself on the front porch of his mother's house. His sister, a child herself, came to check on him a few times a day. Mom was nowhere to be found.

The young woman, Leslie, who first discovered Frantzky kept going back to check on him. She often picked him up and played with him. Elizabeth, a former intern for myLIFEspeaks, also began to come by to check on him regularly. She was an occupational therapist by training and she knew Frantzky needed some pretty serious intervention. 

Elizabeth began to fight for him the day she met Frantzky. She brought him to therapy, she got him enrolled in our feeding program, and she looked out for him daily. She held him when no family members were near and he stayed for days with her in her room while mom was away. She made sure he received some extended hugs and snuggles, something he had definitely never experienced before. She showed him love in the face of scorn. She truly was his first glimpse of what love looks like and what could be in his future.

All along the way, we realized that Frantzky just needed someone to love him and SPEAK UP for him when no one else was doing anything. It was part of the core of who we are.

Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves,
for the rights of all who are destitute.
-Proverbs 31:8

Frantzky soon became a part of daily life around the myLIFEspeaks Family. he slowly stopped throwing his head back and bracing for a fall anytime he was picked up or moved. He began to smile INSTANTLY whenever a camera was pulled out. He knew he was different but I'm not sure he ever knew just how special he was.

We tried something with Frantzky and his birth mother that we had done another time when a mother wanted to give away her children (relinquish) to myLIFEspeaks. We offered to take Frantzky daily onto the myLIFEspeaks campus, for 30 days, so mom could get some rest. We would feed him, bathe him, and take care of his physical needs, but she needed to be mom. The only conditions were that she needed to come pick him up each day at 3:00 to spend time with him and she had to attend therapy with him so she could see how much potential he had.

The first few days were ok but mom didn't change her mind. She didn't want Frantzky and she reassured everyone as soon as the 30 days were up, she was taking him back to the orphanage where he once was and she didn't care if he died or not.

We simply could not let this happen. So, we stepped in. We volunteered to let Frantzky stay with us for another 30 days. Then we realized mom wanted nothing more to do with him and we contacted IBESR (Haitian Child Services) and finally got him released into our care. He stayed with Elizabeth until she left, and then Chris, Tracy, and their family for a few months until he was placed with a Haitian family.

Frantzky was 3 years old and weighed 9 pounds when he was placed into our care at myLIFEspeaks. He was more infant than a toddler.

Almost immediately Frantzky began doing better. He smiled more. He ate better. He even began to work on sitting up. The issues from his earlier years though were telling. Frantzky had very serious developmental delays and some significant brain issues either due to his birth mother not caring for him for days at a time or from his birth, or a combination of the two. We will truly never know. No matter what, Frantzky was never seen as a discarded crippled child. He was FAMILY from day one.

Frantzky began to get sick after he was permanently placed in the care of myLIFEspeaks. As it tends to happen in our world, God showed up when we thought it was too late. Frantzky kept getting sicker and sicker and no matter what we did, he wasn't getting any better. He was tested for malaria and it was positive. We gave him the medicine that he needed but he didn't get better. He continued to get worse.

That week we had a family visiting. The father of the family asked if he could see Frantzky's bloodwork results. It happened (as only God can make happen) that the father was working on his Masters of Public Health and was writing his thesis on malaria. He knew something wasn't right. He contacted a friend of his who was a pediatrician, a board certified pediatric emergency medicine doctor, and a board certified pediatric infectious disease doctor (in layman terms, he's super smart and really good at diagnosing things). The doctor took one look at the bloodwork and realized Frantzky had a strain of malaria we don't normally get here in Haiti. He needed a different medicine.

We began to look for the medicine and realized we couldn't find it anywhere in the country or on the island. Within 24 hours, Missy was meeting a plane at the Port au Prince International Airport to get the medicine. A plane was chartered just to get Frantzky his medicine. Frantzky's "worth" can never be questioned.

Today, that father is our Board Chairman and that Doctor is our Medical Director. Frantzky's LIFE had such an impact on those two men that their families are now involved in making Haiti better. Brent, our Board Chairman has said for years, "I can't wait to one day (even if it's in Heaven) share with Frantzky that even though some people thought he was not worth the effort, his LIFE was worth a chartered plane just to get him medicine. That's how important we all are to God."

I can't wait to one day (even if it is in Heaven) share with Frantzky 
that even though some people thought he was not worth the effort, his 
LIFE was worth a chartered plane just to get him medicine. That's how 
important we all are to God.
-Brent, myLIFEspeaks BOD Chair

Frantzky grew and flourished in his new family. Tania, his mom, and Lolo, his grandmother, made sure he knew he was loved and cared for. His big sister, Sarah, who has autism and some other undiagnosed issues, often talked to him in her own "Sarah" language. I'm convinced he understood her when no one else did. His brothers, Darbens, Olivier, and Atyms all treated him with respect and care. He may have been older than them, but they never acted with disrespect towards him because he was different.

That's the point of what we do at myLIFEspeaks. Everyone has worth. Whether you choose to believe it or not, you do too. The biggest win in our world is when we realize a family is created that doesn't look "normal" to those on the outside but looks perfectly normal to those inside. God created us in His image and we want everyone to experience the worth that comes from knowing God loves you personally. The love that led him to give His own Son, Jesus, as an atoning sacrifice for our own sinfulness. The "agape" love that offers us worth when we don't deserve it. Understanding your own worth and the worth of others is one step closer to understanding God's unconditional love.

Last Sunday, when Frantzky got sick, we did what we thought was best. Reggie, our Haitian assistant director, loaded Frantzky into the myLIFEspeaks UTV and took him to the local facility where we often send children who are sicker than our clinic can handle. His grandmother rode with him and held him on her lap the entire way.

My wife, Missy, and I were just returning with our daughters from our spring break trip. We passed Reggie, Frantzky, and his family on the dirt road on their way to the National Highway. We told them to hurry along to get him help and Missy and I both silently prayed for him to receive the best help possible. We knew the odds were against him though. Hospitals here have turned him away before. Once, after a seizure where Frantzky vomited on himself and his clothes, the doctor refused to see him until he had been cleaned up. That didn't set too well with our myLIFEspeaks family. We, rather forcefully, helped them understand that everyone needs care and sometimes that care is messy.

When we heard the hospital could not see Frantzky, we got ready for another battle. Missy called Reggie to get more of the story. Reggie said that Frantzky was too sick for the local facility to help him. He needed more.

So, Missy, Rhonda, and Claudy jumped in the car to go get Frantzky. They took him to a hospital in Carrefour, between Neply, our village, and Port au Prince. They took him through the emergency care department. Haiti doesn't have very many places with emergency care and this is one of the few we have in our region. It's not a level 4 trauma center, but it is open most of the time. It's at the hospital where Frantzky had his club foot surgery. It's where other children have had orthopedic surgeries and it is where one of our American staff members has given birth to her two children. In short, we trust it.

When Missy, Rhonda, and Claudy left that night, they trusted that Frantzky would receive the care he needed. He had a working IV and a bag of saline that would at least help him with hydration.

This is emotional from here on out. It's taken me a couple of days to be able to process and even begin to sit down to write this. I'm frustrated as I type. I'm incensed that a child was not taken care of, his chart was mislabeled, and NO ONE checked on him during the night. I'm angry that most people who read this will NEVER have to be concerned with being close enough to a hospital.

I'm angry because most people will never hear this story...because most people truly don't know what happens to "THOSE KIDS." I do though. And I REFUSE to let this happen again on my watch!

I'm including pictures from Monday in here. If you're this far into the story, I want you to see him. I want you to see Lolo praying over him for peace and comfort (below) and I want you to know that he was never alone...he had a FAMILY around him.

When Tania (Frantzky's mother), Missy, Rhonda, and Claudy arrived the next morning, they were horrified to see Frantzky looking worse, his IV bag still full, and his fever noticeable to the touch. When they began to ask the nurses questions about him, they said he was doing much better and hadn't thrown up all night. That was not true. In fact, Lolo, Frantzky's grandmother who had been with him throughout the night--praying over him and never sleeping because she was so worried about him, held up a bag of vomit. She said he had vomited twice during the night and she didn't know what to do with it because no one came to check on him.

When they took his temperature it was over 102. He had been without fluids for over 30 hours and this nurse said he was doing better?

When Rhonda and Missy began to push for answers they were simply told the doctor would be in later. That later turned from minutes to hours. Rhonda went and found a doctor she knew who would listen. As our public health liaison, she knew the hospital, a few of the trusted doctors, and how serious this situation was turning.

An American orthopedic surgeon and his Haitian counterpart both came to try to to put an Intraosseous IV into Frantzky's leg, something that happens in emergency situations where a vein isn't easily accessible. It's fairly common in the US, but not in Haiti. When they entered the room he was taken back at how sick Frantzky was. They acted quickly but the supplies weren't right, there was nowhere to hang the IV solution (look at the picture, it's hanging from a ceiling fan), and no one could answer any questions about Frantzky's condition.

Why was Frantzky not checked on during the night? Why had no one checked his vital signs in the 18 hours he had been there? Why was his fever not noted? Why was he not on an oxygen mask?

WHY? WHY? WHY?

WHY WAS FRANTZKY LABELED AS HIV+ ON HIS CHART WHEN THE HOSPITAL HAD RECORDS STATING HE WASN'T??? Why did the nurse tell Lolo not to let any of the other children near him since he was HIV+? Did they think he wasn't worth helping?

When a resident finally came to the room, he immediately went to get the doctor responsible for Frantzky's care. He yelled at her. He screamed. He accused her. Then he made her stand and look at the family and the other doctors and give an account for what was happening. She never looked from the floor.

When she was asked why Frantzky wasn't on an oxygen mask, she sheepishly said they didn't have one. The American orthopedic surgeon immediately went and found one. He brought it back in and threw it to her. His anger was palpable in that moment. The anger of Missy, Rhonda, and Claudy was there as well. Tania and Lolo sat and cried. The American culture tells us we have the right to emergency care but the Haitian culture reminds you that you're too poor to afford it and must simply "deal with" what you receive, no questions. It's not supposed to be that way, but that's the culture. Don't ask questions because you're poor.

Frantzky now had a long needle sticking out of his leg and it wasn't working. His eyes were becoming fixed.

Rhonda and Missy began working on getting HERO (a local ambulance service staffed by Haitians and Americans who are AMAZING) to come and transport Frantzky to another hospital in Port au Prince. HERO was amazing and walked in and took complete charge of the situation. They knew this was critical and they were determined to do what they could to help Frantzky.

The discharge papers say that his oxygen saturation was 89% but the doctor never checked him. She never even looked up from the floor. Why?? Was he worthless in her eyes? Why did she demand to examine him before she released him when she hadn't done anything for him in hours? WHY????

It's easy to second guess these decisions. It's easy to ask, "Why didn't they leave earlier? or Why didn't they take him when they first arrived at the hospital?" In the moment everyone wanted the best for Frantzky and they all knew he was too sick to be moved. They finally threw all caution to the wind in order to try to get him any help they could.

When Frantzky arrived in Port au Prince he needed major help. Another intraosseous IV was placed in his other leg but it also failed to work. He was intubated but the ventilator didn't work so they bagged him. Within a few minutes, the dreaded "CODE BLUE" was called for Frantzky. His heart simply stopped. They tried CPR but his little body just couldn't come back from this. He was gone.

He is gone... That sounds so wrong. He should NOT be gone...

The next day was a blur. I went back to the hospital with Claudy and the Funeral Director (welcome to Haiti) to get the body released. I will spare you the details of that experience. It can only be described as chaos and useless inefficiency. Get a stamp here. Go there. Pay there. Go back here. Go over there. Now go get another stamp. When it was finally over the bill was less than $150US. The man who was in charge of the morgue refused to believe that Frantzky was 9 years old. He pointed at other children in the freezer (yes, a freezer like many people have in their garage) and said the other children were 3 months and 5 months old and bigger than him. What was wrong with him?

Claudy told Frantzky's story so perfectly well in a few sentences. The man looked at Claudy and then back to Frantzky's body. All he said was, "this child was loved." Truer words haven't been spoken here in a long time.

This isn't over though. We REFUSE to ever let this happen again on our watch. As we move forward our commitment to Public Health change in Haiti has been strengthened and solidified. Frantzky's LIFE has touched so many people here in Haiti and around the globe.

In order to improve Public Health, we must improve Education. We need smart kids becoming problem solving adults with critical thinking skills. We need every child growing up safe and secure in a FAMILY and we don't need parents believing the best option for their children is an orphanage. We need commUNITY.

Frantzky's story is so different from others in our world. When Jay passed away, he had a seizure and we believe he aspirated. We did everything we could. When Chrisnerline passed away, she was killed in a traumatic motorcycle accident. We did everything we could.

Frantzky impacted every LIFE he came in contact with. The outpouring of support and notes from Haitians and Americans proves that. The pictures of him show us what true joy is like. We can not let this be the end of his LIFE and impact.

His LIFE speaks even today!

As we prepare for Frantzky's funeral (Friday, April 26) I would like to ask you to pray for our myLIFEspeaks family. For those of us here in Haiti and those in the US. Pray that we can honor Frantzky in the days to come. Pray that we will never let his story go untold.

Today, Frantzky's worth is made absolutely without defect or deformity. He is perfect, whole, and without any differences. He is standing, walking, dancing, and praising in the presence of His Creator who loves him without prejudice. He stands in the presence of holiness without fear.

I was reminded of something I said a few years ago when Jay, another one of the children in the care of myLIFEspeaks with special needs, passed away. If Frantzky had the opportunity to return to us today and live out the rest of his LIFE here like we wish he could, he would NOT choose that. Today, he is in a perfection that we can only jealously long for. One day Frantzky, we will be reunited and you will be able to walk us around and give us a view of the heavens and bow with us before God Himself.

If Frantzky had the opportunity to return to us today and live out the rest of his LIFE here like we wish he could, he would NOT choose that. Today, he is in a perfection that we can only jealously long for. One day Frantzky, we will be reunited and you will be able to walk us around and give us a view of the heavens and bow with us before God Himself.

For those of you who knew Frantzky, who met him, or who knew his story, you can see more pictures on our website on his memorial page. If you have pictures or thoughts you are sharing, please tag us @myLIFEspeaks on any social media. We want to see them. We want to share your memories with you. This helps us as we grieve.

We have a request. On Friday, April 26, will you wear ORANGE in Frantzky's honor? It was his favorite color. Tania said he smiled huge every time he saw it and loved putting on anything orange, especially his LIFE Academy uniform. He will be buried in something orange. We will share more with you in the days ahead.

We have struggled quite a bit with how to handle the requests of some of our great friends and family members who have asked how they can help during this time. We ask that you consider making a donation in Frantzky's memory to myLIFEspeaks for Family Empowerment and to continue providing Family Homes. You can do that HERE.

Thank you to our partners at the Tim Tebow Foundation for the video above. If you want to see more images of an amazing child, just go to social media and search for #FrantzkyFriday.