Dr. John Lovejoy is the respected Jacksonville orthopedic surgeon whose heroic efforts in earthquake-stricken Haiti were captured on film in the award-winning documentary Angels of Milot.
The 2010 earthquake there, which registered 7.0 on the Richter scale, is on record as the worst natural disaster in the Western Hemisphere.
But five years later, Lovejoy and other physicians and volunteers on the First Coast are still doing what they can to help those struggling across the island nation.
Lovejoy will host an event this week to aid Haitians still coping with serious injuries received during the quake.
On Thursday, January 15, volunteers for The CRUDEM Foundation will host A Taste of Haiti Jacksonville from 6 – 9:00 p.m., at the Haskell Building, 111 Riverside Avenue, in Jacksonville. Proceeds will benefit the prosthetics and other medical programs at Hôpital Sacré Coeur, the largest private hospital and a major employer in Northern Haiti.
“We are now focused on job creation and education in Haiti,” Lovejoy told First Coast Connect. “Haiti has 50,000 amputees, and there are not enough medical professionals there to take care of them. So we are training Haitian students to become certified prosthetists and orthotists.”
Lovejoy and a medical team arrived at Hôpital Sacré Coeur days after the earthquake struck in January of 2010, performing 180 surgeries in one week. His efforts are documented in the film Angels of Milot: Haiti’s Aftershock, which aired on WJCT-TV and PBS stations throughout Florida.
For additional information and to make reservations for Taste of Haiti Jacksonville call 904-731-1762 or visit http://www.crudem.org to purchase via PayPal.
Lovejoy joined First Coast Connect this morning to to discuss the efforts of Jacksonville volunteers to help Haitians still coping with the effects of the 2010 earthquake.
