25 June 2013
Always Happy to Help a Friend
During our most recent Australian High Commission community visit to the Weathercoast, Mihai and I had an opportunity to provide first aid to a 10 year old boy named Doyle. Doyle was the son of our boat driver, Henry. He was from a community called Talise and was fishing when a fish hook lodged just above his left hip.
We picked him up in Avu Avu on the way to Talise.
When Doyle leapt into our boat you would never have known that the clinic had discharged him with the fish hook still lodged in his side. He was cheerful and in good spirits. But the fact that the wound had been sewn-up with the hook still inside was concerning. Doyle had been told to go to “Number 9” (the National Referral Hospital) at Honiara as soon as he could – not an easy trip from the Weathercoast; over seven hours in a banana boat from Doyle’s home in Talise.
Mihai and I knew we had to help. When we stopped at Talise we cleaned up his wound as best as we could, covered it to prevent further infection and provided Doyle with some medicine stop an infection taking hold. Throughout the whole first aid process Doyle watched with amusement and he did not flinch once.
Much to Doyle’s dislike, his play time for that day was over as he was prescribed much needed bed rest to reduce the chance of the wound being torn open.
First aid to Doyle.
Then next morning we removed the dressings and re-cleaned the wound. The area around the wound was slightly hot (which can be a sign of infection taking hold). However, by looking at Doyle’s face you would never know he had an injury – he was one tough boy!
That same day Doyle bravely made the trip from Talise to Honiara ‘co-captaining’ the banana boat with his dad. When we checked on Doyle a few days later, we learned that he had the hook removed at Number 9 and he was recovering just fine. Not surprising, when we remembered his braveness and good spirits.
From all of us at the Australian High Commission, we wish Doyle a speedy recovery. Your strength in the face of hardship is a true reflection of the Solomon Islands people resilience.
Take a look at our Facebook page for more photos from the trip at Australia in Solomon Islands.
Ben O'Reilly
Second Secretary at Australian High Commission to Solomon Islands