Martha Lynch, a Boston University Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences alumna, spoke to about 100 students Tuesday night about her experiences aiding Indonesian tsunami victims last February.
“The spirit of community and wanting to help people was like nothing I have ever experienced,” Lynch said.
The U.S. Navy and service group Project Hope collaborated in the first-ever relief mission of its kind and Lynch traveled with the group. Aboard the USS Mercy, a navy hospital ship, civilian and navy doctors traveled to Indonesia to help bring relief to the victims of the massive natural disaster that killed more than 100,000 people, Lynch said.
“When I first read about it,” she said, “I had absolutely no idea what a tsunami was.”
Lynch explained that a tsunami is a very rare form of natural disaster, which forms because of underwater earthquakes or volcanic activity and causes an enormous swell of water six stories high traveling 500 miles per hour.
Lynch presented her experiences through a photo presentation, showing satellite pictures of entire towns destroyed and a photo of the side of a mountain that had been washed away.
After speaking about the destruction, she moved to the difficulties of treating patients in another country. Lynch said the most difficult part of treating the injured was that “none of us spoke Indonesian.”
The crew was given several translators who would relay conversation between doctor and patient, she said.
She said another major obstacle the relief crew faced was the threat of terrorism around the destruction.
“The terrorism threat was real,” Lynch said. “The navy feared that [the terrorists] might want to hit a U.S. ship. Because of this the ship was always moving, which could make surgery interesting.”
Lynch went on to talk about the health condition of the Indonesians. She explained that many of the injured were physically smaller than Americans and nearly all were infected with worms, which made health care difficult.
“Most people in this part of Indonesia had never seen a doctor and once we left they would likely never see one again,” she said.
Lynch also spoke about some of her uplifting experiences while she was there. She said one of her most vivid memories was of one small girl who was paralyzed and after being treated by the medical staff was able to walk again.
“We were all laughing and crying,” she said. “It was just wonderful.” Sargent freshman Kristen Sawyer said she heard about the program through her classes and was interested in the disaster.
“I thought it would be interesting to hear a first-hand account of what happened after the tsunami,” she said.
Nutrition professor Joan Salge-Blake said Lynch’s topic applied to many Sargent students.
“This story is just unbelievable,” she said. “It is a great way to take the knowledge base we’ve taught and show it practiced in the real world.”
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