EUROPE/ITALY - Signs of hope after the tragic earthquake in Haiti

Milan (Agenzia Fides) - Three years after the terrible earthquake that devastated the island of Haiti, in spite of the great difficulty the Caribbean nation is still facing, the stories of some of its inhabitants are marked with a sign of hope. For example the case of a young student who was enrolled at the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Haiti at the time of the earthquake, was brought to Italy by the Camillian Task Force of the religious Camillians (MI) immediately after the earthquake. He now lives in Milan where he continues to study.
Roody is 24 years old and has been without an arm and a leg due to the earthquake. In an interview with the Camillian Task Force, the young man talks about those terrible days in 2011. "After the strong tremor I spent two nights under the rubble until I heard the sound of helicopters, I was certain that I would be found" says the young man. "Unfortunately, there was no place in hospitals and I came home for a few days without receiving any treatment. When my limbs started to become infected, I went with my father to the tents that the Navy had set up and a soldier told me that I would have lost my foot. After the initial discomfort, I was taken care of by the doctors on board who amputated my arm and leg. On that ship I met a Camillian father who asked us if we would like to go to a safer place, and so in the evening we were taken to Saint Camille Hospital, where they began to take care of us, free of charge."
"Without them - continues Roody - I would not have been able to bear the costs for treatment, they provided me the prostheses, built in Haiti, thanks to which I started walking again. In the hospital I met Brother Luca Perletti, MI, who asked me if I wanted to continue my studies elsewhere. So on October 9, 2011 the Camillians took me to Italy, took care of everything and obtained the documents from my university in Haiti, now I study in Milan, where I do not have many friends but where I have met the volunteers of the Mercy association that are helping me. I want to finish my studies and get a job if possible in Italy or in a country where it is easier for me to walk and work," concludes Roody. (AP) (Agenzia Fides 14/01/2013)