Living the dream by saving lives
Brisbane nurse Jess Davis has made her childhood dream come true after spending two months volunteering her skills in Africa on board the world’s largest independent hospital ship.
The ACU nursing graduate had dreamed of working in Africa as a child – but after the nurse fell over on her way to night shift in 2016, resulting in an ankle reconstruction, her dream felt very far away.
“After my operation, I wasn’t able to work, I lost sight of going to Africa, and because of that I was very depressed. I was lying on the couch at home in April 2017 watching TV and saw a documentary called The Surgery Ship I was intrigued and began researching Mercy Ships and felt called to apply. It was the first time in months that I had a sense of purpose and hope, and something to look forward to,” she said.
Mercy Ships uses hospital ships to deliver free health care services and aid to those without access in the developing world. In March 2018, Jess joined a crew of more than 400 volunteers on board the Africa Mercy while it was docked in the Central African nation of Cameroon.
Unique challenges
The skills Jess employed on board were familiar; her job description essentially the same as her role walking the hospital wards in Australia. But while her role was similar, the new environment and circumstances bought an unacquainted set of challenges.
Despite working in what most of us would view a troubling, or at least a peculiar, working environment, Jess adored her new patients and thrived.
“The job I had on the ship was as a ward nurse, very similar to what I do here in Australia, just with a different demographic and unique illnesses and diseases,” Jess said.
“I was working on the women’s health ward caring for ladies who suffered from obstructed labour, sometimes lasting up to 10 days. These women more often than not delivered stillborn children and were left with a fistula, either between their vagina and bladder, vagina and rectum, or both. Subsequently, they constantly leak urine and/or faeces.
“Looking after these women was definitely one of the highlights. They taught me so much in a short period of time. They would come to the ship, sometimes after years of social rejection and family abandonment, after being told there was no cure. They came hopeless.
“Watching them go from being admitted and not looking anyone in the eye, to singing and dancing in the hospital corridors and wards was amazing. They, who had suffered so much for so long, were some of the strongest, happiest, most joyful and thankful women I have ever met. They just glowed."
“Before being discharged, each woman was honoured by the ship. Every other Tuesday while I was there, there was a ceremony where they would receive a dress made for them, bright and flamboyant in colour. They had their makeup done, and they come out to Deck 7 on the ship, where everyone was waiting to celebrate their new lives with them. It was so uplifting.”
Help and healing
The stories Jess relays are extraordinary. Tale after tale of those who had experienced unimaginable trauma, who lost all hope of finding a cure, receiving their ‘miracles’ on board the ship.
“I remember one woman, she was in her 60s and she said ‘I have suffered with this illness for 44 years. I searched everywhere for help and could not find it. I lost all hope. I didn’t want to come to Mercy Ships because I didn’t believe that I could be healed. Praise God a miracle has happened.’ That is the testimony of just about every patient who has surgery on the ship.
