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SALT LAKE CITY -- More than 100 doctors, nurses and other Utah volunteers returned home Friday morning after spending two weeks helping the people of Haiti.
The Utah volunteers returned exactly one month after a devastating 7.0 earthquake rocked Haiti, killing hundreds of thousands of people and leaving millions more wounded and homeless. The Utah Hospital Task Force teamed up with Healing Hands for Haiti to get the volunteers there to help those injured people.
Cheers rang through the Million Air terminal at Salt Lake International Airport just after 7 a.m. as family and friends welcomed the group home.
Excited family and friends had patiently waited to greet the doctors and nurses. Diana Bringhurst said, "My husband is an emergency room doctor at the Utah Valley [Regional Medical Center] emergency room. He served his mission in Haiti. We're excited he's had that opportunity to return to Haiti and help some people there."
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Atop the rubble of destroyed churches, in parks and on sidewalks, thousands of Haitians prayed Friday in a national day of mourning.Diana's husband Corey Bringhurst spent a lot of his time treating those with serious infections.
"Most of what we saw were people that hadn't yet been adequately cared for, that had been injured in the earthquake," he said.
Neil Smith spoke the native language and used his skills to help communicate with the Haitian people.
"I translated everything. I worked with doctors, worked with anybody that could not speak the language, which is most everyone," Smith said.
Every volunteer returned to Utah with stories about what it was like to work in the devastated country. Gaylinn Breeze, a shock trauma nurse from Intermountain Medical Center, told KSL about a Haitian child she will never forget.
"We went to a Baptist mission and this little boy, as I came around the corner, just literally leapt in my arms," she said.
Some of the volunteers spent time working just outside Port-au-Prince with the Utah-based foundation, Healing Hands for Haiti. Like many buildings, their rehabilitation facility was destroyed in the earthquake. They had to treat hundreds of patients out of a tent.
"A lady walked an hour to bring her baby in to see us because they heard we were seeing patients and being able to treat," said volunteer Angie Burton.
For some of the volunteers, the hardest part about the mission was leaving Haiti. But one thing all of the volunteers now have in common is a greater appreciation for home.
"I can't believe how blessed I am and how blessed we all are to have such a wonderful place to live," said Corey Bringhurst.
Task force organizers say this first group is just the beginning of what they hope will turn into several more trips to Haiti. In fact, 850 more people have already volunteered to go.
E-mail: spark@ksl.com
