Story

Ephlésien's Fight with Typhoid

Ephlésien Charles had a bad stomach ache. His mother, Alide Léveillé, brought the eleven-year-old to a local hospital near their home in Aquin. “My little boy was suffering, and I was very scared about his condition,” she explains. But at the local hospital, they were unable to get a diagnosis or treatment for Ephlésien’s stomach pain.

Looking for other opportunities to make her son better, Alide asked everyone she saw for advice. “Finally, someone told me, ‘Why wouldn’t you go to St. Boniface Hospital with him? I’m sure you will find very good care there.’” She had not been to SBH before, but her neighbor gave her directions, and she made the journey with Ephlésien, who at this point was extremely sick.

I feel blessed and happy to have this great hospital available to us in southern Haiti whenever we need it. We do not have other hospitals that provide these kinds of services, and I hope that St. Boniface is always open for us. All I can say is a big thank you!

Alide Léveillé

“When I arrived at SBH I was told my boy had typhoid fever, and his condition was critical. I was very afraid of losing my little boy, but they took good care of him, and he had the surgery he needed.”

When left untreated, typhoid can cause perforations in the infected person’s bowels, which can lead to sepsis and is one of the main causes of death from typhoid. Ephlésien needed antibiotics to treat the underlying infection, and abdominal surgery to repair the perforation in his bowels.

“I thank God and the doctors that my boy is alive,” Aline smiles.