Political
Haiti : President Martelly Has Near Death Experience
- Wednesday, April 25, 2012 9:26 PM
MIAMI, USA (defend.ht) - Haitian President Michel Martelly had a near-death experience that led him to hospital in Miami. He says he’s feeling better, waiting for doctors to give him green light to return to Haiti. President was giving updates on his health status Wednesday April 25 during an exclusive interview on Radio Mega, a Haitian radio station in North Miami.
Haitian President Michel Martelly said it’s by the grace of God that he is alive. “I didn’t die because God wasn’t ready for me to die,” Martelly told Haitian radio host Alex Saint-Surin in a live broadcast Wednesday from North Miami Beach.
It was Martelly’s first public appearance since he arrived in Miami 10 days ago seeking treatment for pain after shoulder surgery earlier this month. Martelly looked healthy but tired as he recounted his near-death experience that at one point had a team of six doctors in Haiti keeping vigil over him.
“I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t talk, I couldn’t eat, I couldn’t stand. I couldn’t lie down, I couldn’t do anything,” Martelly said. “My stomach was compressed. It felt as if three people were pressing down on it.”
That was Sunday, around 2 a.m., Martelly said. By Monday afternoon, he was on a flight to Miami. He spent two days at the University of Miami Hospital. Dr. Reginald Pereira, who joined Martelly on the broadcast, said he’s awaiting additional tests before he allows the president to return to Haiti.
Martelly conceded that flying was a deadly risk, but said he didn’t know what he had until doctors diagnosed it as a pulmonary embolism, or blood clot in the lungs, reports Miami Herald.
The radio interview was aimed at quelling rumors that had Martelly either in a coma, dead, or not sick at all. Senate President Simon Desras told The Miami Herald he plans to form a commission to officially assess the status of Martelly’s health.
