Belize Medical Missions College of Nursing alumnus, Amanda (Geise) Whisnant, CPNP, (MSN ‘05) is the medical director for International Servants, a non-profit mission that provides services to those in need in Belize. Ms. Whisnant’s husband, Paul Whisnant, is founder and CEO of International Servants. Each year Ms. Whisnant leads medical teams to Belize that are comprised of 25 to 30 medical volunteers from the US, ranging from nurses and technicians to physician assistants, nurse practitioners and medical doctors. These teams treat thousands of patients in urban areas and remote jungle villages. Ms. Whisnant reports, “My two years at the College of Nursing were two of the best years of my life. I look back with fond memories, especially when I think of the faculty and their tireless dedication to training their students. They instilled in me the desire to help others less fortunate than myself, and to provide health care for the precious children of the underdeveloped world. It is a joy to do my job as the Belize medical director. Nothing is more rewarding than caring for a needy child who would otherwise receive no medical care. It is my hope that other students and alumni who read this article will be inspired to do the same, to give back, to give freely of their services when they can, to make a difference in this world…one precious life at a time.” To the right is just one of Ms. Whisnant’s amazing stories of how she is using her nursing expertise to help save the lives of the vulnerable population in Belize.
Heilin’s Story A father and mother brought their little girl, Heilin, to the clinic because she had been run over by a car a few months prior and this was her third cast that the Belizean doctors had applied to her arm. The father was concerned about his daughter because her skin was starting to smell and he was worried her skin was becoming infected. Sure enough her skin was infected, borderline gangrene. The wounds were cleaned and she was given some oral antibiotics to help with the skin infection, but her arm was too severely fractured and mangled. She needed a complicated orthopaedic surgery that wasn’t available in Belize. I promised her father that when I returned home I would try to find a way to bring his little girl to the US to get the surgery she needed to save her arm and save her life. I spent months working to arrange for Heilin to be brought to Dallas, TX for the surgery to repair her arm. Heilin’s mom shares, “I was happy, surprised, and absolutely relieved when I got to the US. It’s unbelievable to know that we’re able to come for Heilin to have this surgery. I’m extremely happy and grateful to have this opportunity. We didn’t have the funds in Belize and without International Servants, we would not have received the treatment she needed.” Post surgery, Heilin is doing well. The important part is that doing things like this opens the hearts of the people in that village. When they see Heilin now, they don’t see a little girl, they see a miracle.
Amanda Whisnant (pictured right) with Heilin and her mother.
Fall | Winter 2013
Lifelines
33