Dr. Dave Atkin is da man! He is the current president of Operation Rainbow, a
NGO that provides free medical and surgical care for children in the developing world.
Recently Dave lead Operation Rainbow over to help out in Haiti. Attached is a letter and images Dave sent out to summarize a little about his recent experiences. I am proud to have such a friend represent our country in such a generous manner. Thank you Dave and to all that have such motivation coupled with giving hearts. If you would like to help Dave and Operation Rainbow in some capacity please contact them through their website http://www.operationrainbow.org -
Dear Friends and Colleagues,
I can hardly believe that only 2 weeks has passed since I last wrote,
In truth, it feels like a lifetime to me.
Our initial introduction to the hospital in Jimani, on the Dominican
border of Haiti, could only be described as “hitting the ground
running” as our sixteen member team was quickly integrated into the
existing volunteers. Our lead anesthesiologist assessed that he was
most needed as the director of a makeshift intensive care unit, our
internist, a calm and thoughtful individual, became the medical
director, our pediatrician immediately went in search of the children
, and the operating room personnel set up our two donated autoclaves
(sterilizing units) for surgery. For my part, the outgoing orthopedic
team, who had done outstanding work, signed out a service of 250
patients, many severely injured, and 15 surgeries yet to be done that day.
My co-surgeon, Dr. Chris Comstock , a Stanford trained pediatric
orthopedist, immediately began operating on the children and I on the
adults. His first surgery was Katsana, a 10 year old girl, who had
languished for three weeks with a broken hip, and whose surgery was
made possible when an operative X-ray unit was delivered from the US
the day before we arrived. When she finally crutch-walked on the
wards, she challenged all the other children to do the same, and they
did. She showed us indomitable spirit and went on to be an inspiration
to us all. Her mom told us that since her daughter had been hurt she
had been praying
for angels to come , and now they had arrived; there wasn't a dry eye
in the house.
As we obtained X-rays on all the patients, we realized the magnitude
of the injuries; spine fractures and dislocations, unstable pelvic
fractures in pregnant women, and badly displaced femur fractures. We
were able to contact the USNS Comfort, and soon thereafter Blackhawk
helicopters arrived to bring these patients to modern facilities where
they could receive sophisticated and definitive treatment. Our medical
director helped prioritize those patients most in need and we all
helped evacuate them.
As the days passed, we developed more efficient systems for
identifying and treating the injuries. We delved into the social
histories of the patients to identify the children who had lost
parents and the parents who had lost children. Dr. Karen Makely, our
pediatrician, immunized the children and created a pediatric ward
where children could be together in a brighter, more cheerful setting.
Her endeavors were accurately chronicled by ABC, and can be viewed on
the link: http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/local/san_francisco&id=7256918
We were all impressed by the spirit and resilience of our Haitian
patients; we knew their names and many of their stories. We can still
hear the sound of their voices as they sing hymns in the evenings. For
us, as the week ended, we felt that we had not only become better
providers, but better people.
The need for orthopedic aid in Haiti will be enormous and we, the
members of Operation Rainbow, will be there. Thank you all for your
momentous support.
Please help us to continue helping those in Haiti.
It's a First Friday Party on Upper Haight (March 5th), after work take a stroll to see some live music, local art, sales, drinks and more-
We'll be having the O'Donnell Brothers who will be playing some traditional Irish folk music, drinks, and 20% off all clothing, sunglasses, and accessories- from 6 till 9pm. The O'Donnell brothers will start playing around 7:30.
Participating stores include-
Amoeba, Aqua Surf Shop, Booksmith, Soulpatch Tatoo, Offbeat on Haight, Buffalo Exchange, RVCA, Goorin Hat Co, Coffee to the People, with the after party at Milk. Visit Upper Haight First Fridays on Facebook for more info.
DO NOT MISS-
Our friends over at Powerlines Productions are doing their thing- a special screening at La Costanera Restaurant featuring the new footage from the Mav contest tomorrow night! + drink specials all night, are u kidding me- just be sure to bribe a designated driver to get you home safely.
All the details are on the attached flyer.
Ben Andrews is a li'l resilient bugger- he said he got washed in by a set at the beginning of his heat, so he battled right back out there turned around and took off late on this one. It looks like a surge went up the face as Ben was trying to drop in-forcing Ben off balance and even deeper! Surprisingly Ben did not get hurt as the lip crashed down on him and his RC, and he was able to join on in in da "sports casting booth" and talk about his experience, right after his heat. I applaude the li'l bugger's tenacity, right on Ben! All pictures by Brian L. Frank
Who is da nicest wave destroyer at da beach?
My vote is on Alex Martins. Alex consistently inspires and motivates with his surfing, yet is always humble and genuine to everyone. Alex is just as amped on surfing as when he was a grom, and continues to bring his surfing to new levels.
Alex took a little time to summarize his feelings on the recent Mav contest below, all photos are by Brian L. Frank. Also Alex sent us to this link to a nice short made about him and the contest by Vanessa Carr.
Alex, "I was really fortunate to get into this contest because everybody showed up except Brock Little who got injured at Waimea. I had done the contest in 2006 but the experience that I had this year was beyond my expectations. I've been putting my time in at Mavericks for a long time and training really hard, but what we saw on the Saturday of the contest was something totally different from what we usually see. It was the biggest and heaviest day that pretty much anyone had experienced paddling into. To make it through to the semi final was huge for me. I was really stoked about it especially because I won my heat, got the biggest wave of my life and almost made it through to the final."
My neighbor Brian, whom I watched grow up since he was that li’l punk on Lawton street to a very talented photographer who works for clients as diverse as The Wall Street Journal to Razon, gave me some shots of some of our team riders and friends from last weeks Mavericks contest. This first sequence I am going to post is of our team rider Ion Banner going big and late, and unfortunately getting a lot of air caught under his board. I tried to get a hold of Ion to hear more about this wave, but no luck. I know there is an article about Ion coming out soon that I will link when it hits- right on Mr. Banner! To see more of Brian’s work visit http://www.brianfrankphoto.com, he has some intense photos from the recent cartel clashes in Mexico. More photos soon.
The Doctor has da cure for da “Spring Slop Blues.”
Oh boy Spring slop is right around da corner! Who has the cure? Well, Doc Lausch of course! He has a whole new line up of slop killers, and he will be bringing them up for you to demo this weekend.
This Saturday Doc Lausch and his Surf Prescriptions posse will be coming up to SF for a demo day and discussion about his new models for 2010.
-On Saturday, Doc will be driving up from Huntington Beach and arrive somewhere between 2 and 3PM at our Sloat shop, whereby he will lead a presentation and have a Q & A about his new models. Then Doc will hang out to talk and take custom orders.
We will be serving coffee, doughnuts and bagels. So come hang out with da Doctor.
-On Sunday (Conditions permitting, cross yer fingers!) Doc will be hosting a demo day with many of his models for you to try out. From 10 till 1PM come by our Sloat Shop where you will see the RX tent set up and come try out some "sick" Surf Prescriptions! We'll also be bar-b-quing up some of da Doc's famous carne asada tacos, so even if the surf refuses to cooperate we will have a great time with the Doc and crew. Don't miss out.
To learn more about Surf Prescriptions and see the surfboard line,
