Mother/daughter nurses help victims in Haiti

Story Created:
Jan 29, 2010 at 3:24 PM EST

Story Updated:
Jan 29, 2010 at 6:47 PM EST

FORT MYERS, Fla. – Two Fort Myers nurses said they faced the unthinkable in Haiti after flying to their homeland to help the wounded.

Betty Mesidore and Christina Theogene didn’t think twice about visiting their home country after some of it was destroyed by an earthquake.

“When I saw the pictures on CNN and was unable to reach my family, I knew,” Mesidore said.

The mother and daughter took pictures while they were there.

“I didn’t know that could happen in Haiti because I grew up in Haiti and to know what it was and see what it is now – that was a big shocker for me,” Theogene said.

Once they found out their family was okay, they went to work – helping the people who were hurt.

“We went there and did the best we could. We had very little to work with,” Mesidore said. “I never thought in my lifetime, as a nurse, that I would be faced with that.”

Mesidore said she helped perform a c-section on a woman without any anesthesia.

“We had about eight people pressing her down to do a c-section on her because she was having seizures and thankfully she was safe, and the baby,” she said.

Theogene said the wounds in Haiti are physical and emotional. They learned that first-hand.

“The Tuesday that 6.2 earthquake hit, we were there and I believe God made us feel that so we could understand.”

That mother and daughter, who have lived here for six years, hope to return to Haiti in the next few weeks to follow up with their patients.