"When I go back home, I get very distrubed. I get very hostile with people crying and complaining," Don said of his returns to Palm Harbor where his wife, Eva, collects funds and supplies to support the mission.
"The real problems are in Haiti," he said. "A mother doesn't have breast milk. If I put a new baby on formula I have to take another baby off."
With some 80 infants obtaining formula provided by the For Haiti With Love, there just isn't enough to serve all the infants brought to the mission for help.
"It's like I have to decide which baby lives or dies. That's a horrible situation. It's a trying and emotional life when you have to say no."
"Just a few weeks ago, a mother brought in a two-week-old baby who had never been fed," Don said. He used a spoon to put formula in the infant's mouth. A short time later, the child "died in my arms."
Don, along with two Haitians, Joe and Linda, whom Don has taught to treat burned victims, do what they can to help people. Volunteer doctors also come periodically to treat more serious illnesses. Each team of doctors usually stays for about a week at a time. None receive payment.
Recently on Sunday, two young women came to the clinic with a two-year-old patient Don had been treating for a couple of weeks. The little girl had received serious second-degree burns on her side and hip. Don removed the old dressing, pulled off dead skin, treated the burn with medication and then dressed it with a fresh bandage. The wound would heal up without leaving a scar, Don said.
A Mid-November
Day
In the City