My little sister came out of the womb saving lives. Literally. Her birth led to the detection of Hodgkin's Lymphoma in my mother. Without the early detection, my mother's life and family's outcome could have be dramatically different. My sister's life has been a blessing to all she's encountered. She needs our help to help a friend of hers. I don't know that I can help her so I'm asking for help from the this community because I've never seen a community project as much good on the world as this community has.
Continue over the jump to see how you can help my little sister.
First a little bit about why I love my sister.
After high school she went to West Liberty State University on an athletic and academic scholarship. Her freshman year she went undefeated and helped the ladies tennis team make it to the National Tournament. After that year she dropped out, returned to Columbus, Ohio to pursue her passion: Nursing.
She has since completed her course work and training and has become a nurse at Mt. Carmel Hospital. Sometime last year she volunteered to join some nurses in a trip to Haiti to help with the situation down there. Since that trip she has become "obsessed" with helping the people of Haiti.
Saving her days off she recently used her 2 weeks of vacation time to go back to Haiti and volunteer her time to help the people in anyway she could. She's become an active member/supporter of the Materials Management Relief Corps Which does great work in Haiti.
The co-founder of MMRC is friend of hers named Paul Waggoner. He is currently being held in the National Penitentiary in Haiti under the charge of kidnapping. Apparently a child for whom the hospital was caring for died with his eyes still open, so the father accused Paul of kidnapping the child. From a statement from MMRC:
The child in question died at Haitian Community Hospital in Petionville February 23, 2010, while Waggoner was organizing supplies at the hospital. Waggoner did not administer any medical care to the infant. Despite the fact that a board-certified, US physician has signed an affidavit stating that the child in question was deceased, and the father viewed the body, the father has accused Waggoner of kidnapping the child. The doctor’s affidavit also acknowledges that the father declined to take the child’s body as he did not have the resources to bury it, instead allowing the hospital to dispose of the body.
This story has gotten a little national attention as it was featured on AC 360 (click to see vid) It needs more attention and maybe 30 seconds of your time.
Please sign the Human Rights petition to help free Paul Waggoner. He is ambassador of good will from this country. He needs to be freed. I know this community is the most compassionate, good spirited community I've ever been a part of. My sister embodies the spirit of this community and spends her life helping others. Now she needs our help to help another person. I thank you in advance for your help.
About Paul:
Orphaned himself at a young age, and left with the responsibility to raise his younger sister, Paul is well known and well respected in Haitian circles for his humanitarian work in local orphanages, hospitals, and in assisting in the re-building of various structures within Haiti.
**I've not spoken with my sister about this, only seen her FB updates on the matter so I thought I would try to help by enlisting this community. Also, if you watch the AC 360 video there is mention of Mr. Waggoner's prior criminal history, I know nothing about and can't comment either way. I do know the colleague "Big Paul", is another good, trusted friend of my sister's.