A Manitowoc woman is preparing for her first overseas trip to help those who may not have access to first-world medical care.
At a home on Lincoln Blvd last night, a different type of packing party was taking place at the home of Dr. Matt Campbell.
Healthcare workers and volunteers through Send Health were packing health supplies, such as bandages and medicine, which will all be taken to Bolivia.
Volunteer and former anatomy teacher Mary Virlee will be making her first overseas trip to deliver the supplies and help those in need.
She tells Seehafernews.com that her personal health journey led her to want to help others. She retired from teaching in 2017 to become a full-time caregiver for her husband, Dave.
During that time, she also started helping put together the medical bags for other trips to Bolivia.
Unfortunately, her husband passed away, and she would start dealing with her own health problems.
“I ended up in the ICU for 44 days, and rehab and, and I went into respiratory arrest, I had sepsis, it was touch and go,” she explained. “But, in the back of my head, I kept thinking about Bolivia. When I was in the ICU in Milwaukee, I was thinking, who’s going to sell those medical bags? That’s my job!”
After successfully completing physical therapy and personal training at Juniper Strength and Recovery in Manitowoc, Virlee decided she wanted to help others in Bolivia and will take her first trip to the country.
She says she saw what those and healthcare do to help their patients, no matter the situation.
“Be it their touch, their smile, reassurance,” she noted. “So, I experienced all of that and I’m hoping to have that opportunity to pay that back.”
Dr. Campbell, one of the founders of Send Health, explained that he’s been to Bolivia at least 18 times.
He first went in 2010 and was eventually asked to be the lead for trips for the organization he worked for.
He has since brought numerous medical professionals from the U.S. to the country, whose healthcare is not as good as ours in the U.S. Volunteers come from all around Wisconsin.
“We have people from Sheboygan now, got a little Sheboygan pod that comes from down there,” he stated. “We have people from Lake Geneva, people from Milwaukee. I think seventeen of our team is local this time out of a total of 36.”
Healthcare staff from other states and even Canada will make the trip to the country.
The medical supplies being packed will be brought in suitcases to help patients around the country.
Campbell says there is medical care for some down there, but they will be very busy helping provide care to many.
“This year, we know certain infectious diseases that the community is dealing with,” he noted. “Our primary care team is collaborating with physicians in the area on high blood pressure and diabetes projects and taking equipment down for that.”
Virlee and the group will leave next Saturday (March 21st) with many packed luggage items ready for the trip to Bolivia.
They will return to the U.S. over the Easter weekend.
