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Christen mosquito net mission of mercy cut short
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McLennan councillor Eckhard Christen’s trip to Tanzania was cut short after health issues had arisen earlier this summer.
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Susan Thompson
for Smoky River Express
McLennan town councillor Eckhard Christen is back home, after his trip to Africa was ended abruptly for medical reasons.
Christen had raised over $1,000 from the community to buy and distribute mosquito nets to help stop the spread of malaria in Tanzania.
He was also participating in the “Share Him” Adventist missionary campaign, and had planned to hike Mount Kilimanjaro.
“I left here on June 14 to go to Africa,” Christen says. “I was there for four weeks.”
Christen first completed the evangelism campaign, which he says was a great success. After finishing up that part of his journey on July 4, he travelled to a national park with plans to go on a safari.
“The safari never happened for me, because I had my heart attack,” Christen says. Christen started off generally not feeling well, but didn’t realize what was happening until he woke up in pain.
“It felt like a big elephant on my chest, and the tingling went down both my arms,” he says.
Fortunately, one member of the group Christen was travelling with was a doctor. Dr. Williams from Philadelphia had been preaching with the group, and was experienced as an emergency room physician. Christen had already told the doctor he was prone to atrial fibrillation, and immediately went to the doctor and told him he was having a heart attack.
Dr. Williams had already distributed all of his medicines to people in Africa, but he was still able to perform emergency medical procedures on Christen.
“He gave me a double or triple dose of the medicine I had,” Christen says. “He also massaged the arteries in my throat to slow the blood.”
Another member of the group had trained for a year as a nurse in Toronto, and helped by comforting and encouraging Christen while he was having trouble breathing. She also made sure he was able to breathe more comfortably by having someone get him a wet cloth to cover his mouth to block out the smoke of nearby open fires.
The doctor then picked Christen up bodily and they used a safari vehicle to transport him to the nearest hospital, about 15 minutes away.
At the hospital Christen was given more medication and oxygen. His group also gathered around him to pray.
“By next morning, believe it or not I had no symptoms,” Christen says.
He was still sent by medivac to a larger hospital in Nairobi, Kenya where he spent three days in the ICU. Dr. Williams had to return home, but before leaving he made sure Christen had nitro pills to take and was resting comfortably.
Christen says he received excellent care while in hospital in Africa. He was pleased that everyone in the Nairobi hospital spoke English.
“After being in the hospital in Kenya, I asked the heart specialist, what about my plans for the next two months?” Christen says. Christen knew he wouldn’t be climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro anymore, but had still hoped to travel on to work in an orphanage and distribute mosquito nets as planned. The doctor advised against it.
“He said his medical advice was to go home.”
The doctor insisted that Christen travel with a nurse, so a nurse was flown from Toronto to Nairobi and travelled home with Christen.
Christen also asked his insurance company if he could be sent home in time for his 42nd wedding anniversary on July 14. Happily the company was able to do that for him.
“On the 14th I was here, and I called my wife [Barbara] and asked her, are you going to Edmonton to pick up your anniversary present?” Christen says. “She asked, what is it? I said, well I think it’s me!”
Christen is now recovering at home until he can see a cardiologist in Grande Prairie at the end of the month, but he has made sure the nets he’d planned to purchase will still be distributed in Africa.
“I gave the money to my interpreter, and he’s going to finish my work in the next month or so,” Christen says. “Even though I’m not there it all keeps on going. I am in touch with him by email.”
The nets cost about $10 CAD, meaning that the money Christen raised bought roughly 100 nets. Each net can cover up to four people, meaning they will protect 400 people from the mosquitos that carry the frequently deadly malaria virus.
There are approximately 515 million cases of malaria in the world each year, killing between one and three million people. Children are especially vulnerable.
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