Haiti’s Trauma Reflected in Dr. Sanjay Gupta’s Eyes

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, noted neurosurgeon, and Chief Medical Correspondent for CNN in Atlanta arrived in Haiti in the immediate aftermath of the earthquake that recently devastated that island nation.           

In Haiti, Dr. Gupta’s mission is the same as it was in Iraq in 2003, to take the lead for his network in bringing medical news from the field to the American people and the world.

In both cases however, it wasn’t long before Gupta began augmenting reporting duties with his medical skills as he jumped in occasionally to assist the injured, ease suffering and save lives when possible.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Wikipedia.com

During one of his reports, I was struck by the expression so clearly visible on his face and in his eyes. It was undeniably the glazed look of wide-eyed shock; a kind of expression that suggests the psyche is struggling to adjust to a reality that is almost too much to comprehend. It’s an expression I am all too familiar with, and one I’ll never forget.

This facial expression was most apparent during the now infamous incident at one of the field hospitals when the staff of doctors, after a hard day’s work began to pack to leave. These were doctors from another nation, and it seemed Gupta was totally out of the loop as to the rationale for deserting approximately 25 severely wounded patients, many of whom had received surgery just that day.

By way of explanation, the doctors said that the United Nations (the UN later refuted the claim), were ordering them to leave the location for security reasons.

Now, put yourself in Gupta’s place: he has no idea whether the claims of security problems (perhaps translated to mean violent behavior by residents), are true or false. He and his camera crew could be in a serious life-threatening situation.

Yet, despite this very real possibility, Gupta decided to remain there through the night and care for the helpless patients until other medical staff could arrive, hopefully the following day. That, in my opinion was heroic.

It was while he was reporting this turn of events that I focused on his expression. He had often said since his arrival in Haiti that he had never seen anything comparable in magnitude; from the dead and rotting bodies that littered the streets, to the horrific suffering of severely injured people with little to no medical providers, equipment or supplies, and no food and water.

His expression was so familiar because I’d seen the same wide-eyed, glazed expression etched on the faces of survivors of Hurricane Marilyn in the Virgin Islands in 1995.  Marilyn was a hurricane that destroyed, or heavily damaged over 90% of the structures on the island of St. Thomas, and lasted from start to finish approximately 15 hours.  

I remember walking some of the island’s debris littered streets and roads two days after the hurricane and subsequent squalls had passed. It wasn’t long before I noticed that look in the eyes and on the faces of many of the people I saw.

I didn’t realize I had that same expression until the following day when I happened to catch my reflection in a mirror while combing my hair. I had quickly tried to adjust my features, but couldn’t. I discovered it’s not something that can be faked, or controlled, but something that is an involuntary manifestation of what the mind is dealing with, and something that has to run its course as each individual adjusts emotionally to what they have experienced. And, yes I did see similar expressions on the faces of many earthquake survivors.

So, my hat is off to Dr. Gupta as someone who truly became one with the suffering people of Haiti; someone who went far and beyond what was required and did what was right, and what his heart dictated.

He is definitely one of my heroes.