He died alone in the cold, damp, darkness. There was nobody to hold his hand. Nobody loved him. Nobody cared. Nobody even wanted him. Nobody missed him after he was gone.
I first met NewPoe in mid April. He came to my clinic all swollen up. I was very concerned because he was only 27 years old and now he has kidney failure. The man with him assured us that he would take him to Meta hospital. But we found out 2 months later that NewPoe never went to the hospital and now he was very sick at the point of death in CooDooMai village. He could not take care of himself and nobody wanted to take care of him. Nobody wanted him anywhere near them. Somebody had built a crude shelter for him out of tarpaulin outside of the village. Rice was brought to him occasionally.
His history: When NewPoe was a very little boy, his parents both died from opium abuse. He lived with his aunt for a while, but became friends with a boy in GeGhah village, who’s parents were kind to him, took him into their home and bought him a Thai citizenship card. He stayed with them for some time, but was a very naughty, unappreciative boy. Like his biological parents he became addicted to opium and other harsh, jungle drugs. He did not attend school, but was drafted into the army where his naughty behavior got him into trouble. He could not understand the Thai language, therefore the sergeant did not like him. Finally he left AWOL from the army, which is a serious offense, punishable by fines and jail time. So he is hiding and using drugs, and is selfishly, all-around, naughty.
After we heard about his deplorable condition in CooDooMai village, we went to visit him and evaluate his condition. It was now mid-June. I could smell it from far away! Down the mountainside was a crude shelter made of tarp. There he lay in his own filth. It was a horrible sight and a place for only the strongest stomachs to enter!
He couldn’t even lift the cover off his feet to show me how swollen they were. His breath was gasping and when he coughed it sounded like he would loose all his insides. How pitiful! How my heart ached for him! He has no one to care for him, no one to pray for him. We prayed with him right there in that stinking filthy cesspit.
We must take him to the hospital, but we need help to carry him out to our truck. Nobody wanted to help. Finally a few men volunteered to carry him, but we had to wait a long time while they drank a lot of alcohol to numb their senses. It was a terrible job.
We had brought a mat and a couple of new wool blankets, of which we had to burn later, but we are off to the hospital. New Poe had 2 brothers, one was in Myanmar not far away. He came for a couple of days, but the other brother in Bangkok could care less. NewPoe was sent to the big hospital in MaeSot where he stayed for almost 2 months, then they transferred him back to the smaller hospital in Meta to receive treatments. This was good news to me because he didn’t need peritoneal dialysis! I was greatly encouraged by this! However the village people called BletJhaw saying: “If he leaves the hospital please do NOT bring him back to our village! We do NOT want him here!” But wouldn’t you know it, NewPoe left Meta hospital AMA, (against medical advice), and did not continue his treatments. We lost track of his where abouts for a while, but learned that he had returned to the hospital later. He was worse, so they sent him to MaeSot where he was put on Peritoneal dialysis. Of course NewPoe would never continue to flush his abdomen three times a day!
Now BletJhaw and I are out for his surgery, returning to BYT September 24. The people of CooDooMai told us that they had exiled NewPoe far away from them. They put him in a small abandoned gasoline shelter on the top of the mountain where the north winds blow. There are a couple of old abandoned houses up there. Nobody lives anywhere near!
Years ago they sold the cylinder pump gasoline from here.
When we stepped into this tiny 6ft by 6ft mossy, damp, compartment we were surprised at how good he looked! The room did not smell because he could walk outside! His face was swollen, but arms and legs looked better and he was more alert!
There is the Baxter box of fluids that he is supposed to irrigate with, but never did.
He can even cook his own rice!
We had brought some food for him, and BletJhaw had a lovely prayer with him about Jesus, His love and forgiveness and heaven! As we walked away we said to each other, we have some time with him, maybe he can be like the thief on the cross – we can visit often, pray and talk with him. Also we were excited to bring him an audio Bible next time! That was on September 24.
It was Thursday, September 29 when we were treating the sick in LaGlah village when BletJhaw got a phone call from the people in CooDooMai village. Sometime in the night NewPoe had passed away!
This is the last we saw of him.
Nobody cared …But I did
Nobody cried …But I did
Nobody misses him …But I do
Nobody loves him …But Jesus does