A HEART BREAKING DAY

I (Eileen) would like to share a very personal experience with you.  We have a lovely complex including a beautiful  air conditioned exercise room and a swimming pool that would rival that at any resort.  We can see the magnificent swimming pool from our balcony.  I have enjoyed swimming laps daily early in the morning, usually about 6 a.m, while Russell works out in the exercise room. Normally the only other person that ever uses the pool at that hour is Elder Beaman who is a good friend of ours.

During the month of Ramadan our  pool has been quite empty.  Our mission president and wife normally travel quite a bit and we have been trying to get together with them for some time to come over and enjoy a swim and get a little rest and relaxation.  Junior missionaries can't swim, but senior missionaries can.  Today we were able to make arrangements for President Groberg and his wife to come over.  We knew the pool would have more people in it since Ramadan was over. Still, as the office was closed today, an official holiday, we thought it would be a nice break.

We swam a little and then were in the shallow end talking.  The deepest end of the pool is 5 foot deep.  All of a sudden we heard a girl crying. We looked over and there were two girls shaking a young girl on the side of the pool. We rushed over to her side. President Groberg is a pediatrician who actually came to Indonesia in the 1990s to teach neonatal resuscitation.  As a pediatric nurse I have been through many classes teaching how to do CPR, but have actually never done full blown CPR on a person.

The little girl who was 10 years old (the age of my oldest grandchild) wasn't breathing, but did have a pulse for just a few minutes.  I started doing mouth to mouth while Pres. Groberg was monitoring her pulse and then started chest compressions.  Russell and Sister Groberg tried to position her neck and help.  The girl threw up copious amounts of food while I was doing mouth to mouth.  I would roll her and do it some more, not really caring about the hygenic conditions, but rather thinking about her mother, who by this time was sitting across from me crying.  We asked several people to get an ambulance.  President Groberg speaks Bahasa Indonesia,  so requests were made in the native language. A girl came up and said she was a nurse.  We asked if there was an ambu bag or mouth piece anywhere that we could use to help the girl breathe. Eventually oxygen with a nasal cannula came which would be great for a person that was having an asthma attack but not a drowning victim.  I begged for an ambulance multiple times.  Several people were watching, observing. I didn't see anyone trying to comfort the mother.  The local nurse at one point looked at the girl's pupils and said no good.  I was taught to never give up on CPR, until you are too exhausted to go on any further or until a doctor pronounces the patient dead.  I was not about to let this girl die on my watch. I didn't realize how difficult CPR would be to do, especially while someone was laying on cement and we were leaning over the top of her.  President Groberg and I would switch places, once even Russell said tell me what to do as he could tell I was exhausted and gave the girl a few breaths.  It took 45 minutes for an ambulance to come 2 miles.  As it was a holiday there was no traffic today. I am not sure what the hold up was.  I just knew the little girl needed to get higher level medical care.

President Groberg and I jumped in the ambulance and continued CPR, this time with a mask that was for the size of an adult, no oxygen in the ambulance.  The mother was slumped in a corner, I was doing compressions.  When we got to the hospital, the President continued working on the little girl while the medical staff there intubated and gave medications to her.  An Indonesian man that lives in our complex came to talk to me. He thanked me for my help.  I asked him if there was any water any where that I could rinse my mouth out.  When he came back I think I was in shock. Even though he was speaking English to me I mumbled that it was 45 minutes and that she would be dead.  He did something very unusual for a Muslim man to do.  He hugged me and let me sob in his arms.  Russell and Sister Groberg had yet to come.  I thought how could this little girl be playing with her friends just a little bit ago, and now be unresponsive despite our best efforts?  He was kind and asked me to sit down in the waiting room. Eventually I pulled myself together and went back into the ER.  The Mom of the little girl was sitting within feet of where her daughter was being resuscitated.  The mother's hands clasped in prayer, looking to see what was going on.  I knelt beside her and put my hand on her arm.  She immediately recognized me (complete in my swimsuit and flipflops).  Fortunately I had put a coverup on.  She stood up and hugged me and started sobbing.  We hugged each other for a long time, both of us crying and I kept saying I am sorry in Indonesian.    

I left the hospital, discouraged and sad.  At that point the girl had a pulse, but wasn't breathing on her own. We estimated that she was without oxygen for an hour.  My heart was sick for a mother whose life had changed dramatically in just a few short minutes.  I have 6 children and 11 grandchildren. I know the suffering a mother goes through when they are concerned about their children.  I also know the love of our Father in Heaven has towards each of his children here on earth.  If this little girl dies she will be brought into the arms of a good and loving God, where she will see loved ones that have passed on and be in a place of peace and happiness.

I feel for the family of this darling little girl.  Regardless of your race or religion, will you please join with me and pray for a little 10 year old girl in Jakarta tonight that will be fighting for her life?  Pray that her family might find peace and comfort.  I feel a personal connection with this mother and daughter and I think my life will be forever changed as a result of the events of this day.