Paying it Forward – Unusual Results in Nepal

Following a visit to Nepal in 2000 Past District Governor Jack Morrison, a Steamboat Springs Rotarian, spearheaded fund-raising efforts by the Rotary Club of Steamboat Springs to raise $15,000 in member contributions and another $15,000 in Rotary grants to purchase and deliver an x-ray machine to a small clinic in Phaplu, a remote Himalayan mountain village in Nepal.

: This sign provides a cheery welcome to visitors searching for medical treatment in the remote regions of Nepal

The location was so remote that reaching the nearest functioning road to Katmandu required a four day trek.  With the help of the Katmandu, Nepal Rotary Club the new x-ray machine was flown into the Phaplu clinic by helicopter in 2002.

Last year author Dave Norman stumbled into the high mountain village suffering from a life-threatening lung condition called “pulmonary edema.”  In a recent letter to the Steamboat Springs Rotary club, Norman said “I would like to thank you for the role you don’t realize you played in saving my life!”  Norman and his wife had been trekking in the Himalayas when he fell ill.

“My overburdened wife navigated us straightaway to the village of Phaplu, where we were sure to find a phone to call a rescue helicopter or plane into their tiny gravel airstrip.”  Unfortunately, the last plane out had already departed with nothing further scheduled for an indefinite period.

Author Dave Norman posing in Nepal under healthier condition.

“Annie—my wife-cum-Sherpa—dragged me uphill to the Phaplu Clinic, which we identified by the red crosses painted everywhere and the large number of sick and mangled people milling hopefully in the courtyard. Then it was back across the courtyard so the doctor could x-ray me for pneumonia.

“Standing shirtless and shivering, my chest pressed against a freezing steel plate… I spotted a tiny brass plaque on the machine that read “Courtesy of the Steamboat Springs, Colorado, Rotary Club. Then the machine zapped me with enough radiation to explode a potato.”

The x-ray didn’t show pneumonia, but Norman’s heart appeared significantly enlarged due, possibly, to cardiac edema. With the x-ray in hand, he was able to convince officials at the nearby airstrip that evacuation was essential and a special flight was arranged for him and his wife a few hours later.

“The support of your Rotary Club made a tremendous difference to the Phaplu Clinic and the people it supports. As one of its few Western patients, I am tremendously thankful to their staff and for the role your service played in empowering the Phaplu clinic to save people’s
lives,” Norman said.

“What a story,” Jack Morrison said.  And Rotary’s involvement in the Phaplu Clinic has continued.  Morrison stayed in touch with the clinic’s director Dr. Mingma and helped the Steamboat club raise another $8,000 to install the first telecommunications satellite system in Nepal at the clinic.  “The satellite has provided the means for this very remote hospital to consult with experts elsewhere on patient diagnosis and treatment,” he said.

: Because of the extremely remote and rugged terrain, locals must carry personal goods and supplies some four days to the nearest navigatible road.

“I feel quite sure that this satellite was also important in the diagnosis of Dave Norman’s problem. This wonderful story should put a smile on all of our faces,” Morrison said.

(Dave Norman is the author of four books, including the forthcoming “Following Josh” (October 1st, f/64 Publishing). More of his writing is available at www.davenorman.net.)