Featured R4WH Alumnus

Minh Nguyen, MD, PGY-3 Orthopaedics at OSUMC, and 2007 R4WH webmaster and finance chair, carries on the R4WH spirit drawn from his experiences with the Ride.  On January 12, 2010, the earthquake measuring 7.0 on the Richter scale hit 10 miles south of Port-Au Prince, the capital of the poorest country in the western hemisphere.  Fighting the urge to "just go" unprepared, he organized a monstrous uphill effort to gather a surgical team and much needed supplies and equipment and got them to the hospital in Pierre Payen Hospital, Haiti.  From February 13th to the 20th, their team, dubbed team 5, the fifth team on the ground, not only provided medical and surgical care but dedicated much of their time to building the infrastructure of the hospitals.  Because of their efforts, subsequent rescue teams have been able to carry on the mission to help the people of Haiti to rebuild their health care infrastructure.

When asked about organizing such an effort, Minh responded:

"In organizing this effort, everyone said no.  No commercial flights were flying into Haiti.  Everyone had given already to larger organizations like the Red Cross, which was great, but it didn't help our efforts.  But as I learned as a leadership team member on the Ride, I wouldn't take no for an answer.  I wanted to do it right. I wanted to do it my way.  I drew from my R4WH experience and network that started with them to not only find the perfect hospital, but gather a team, supplies, find an airplane, fundraise, and execute.  The leadership and team building skills that I learned and honed on the Ride were critical in organizing and executing our efforts in Haiti.  Time and time again, I am reminded that I truly got much more from the Ride than I gave as leadership team member, and team rider.  I now feel the same about Haiti."

Relive Minh's efforts by reading a blog from one of his team members, Thomas Lee, MD at: http://www.orthofootankle.com/category/humanitarian/

Watch a movie (about 20 minutes long) of their trip:
http://www.youtube.com/user/ofaccolumbus1#p/a/u/2/ttl8sH63reQ