Putting a smile on the needy makes my day – Kramer

FOR those of us in good health the issue of health services may mean very little while for some it is the difference between life and death.

Today I decided to spend my lunch hour visiting the country's premier public health facility, Port Moresby General Hospital. I wanted to see firsthand the state of our health services in our Nation’s Capital and meet the people who keep it running as well as the patients that fill it.

I arrived unannounced and fortunate the staff were kind enough to show me around the many wards, ICU, Surgical, Cancer and Emergency divisions to name a few. I even toured the laundry and maintenance divisions, whom would normally be ignored but all play a critical role in keeping the hospital functioning.

I was privileged enough to meet many patients and their careers, some on the path to recovery while others critically ill.

There was one patient in ICU I was moved by and his name is Wilfred Nukuitu. Wilfred comes from Biun South Bougainville and an employee of Finance Department. He has been confined to a Hospital bed in ICU for the past 8 months.

He has a very rare disease, called Myasthenia gravis. It’s a disease that causes weakness in the skeletal muscles, which are responsible for breathing and moving parts of the body, including the arms and legs.

It becomes a life-threatening condition when the muscles that control breathing become too weak to do their job. This explains why Wilfred is hooked up to a ventilator to assist him with breathing, essentially keeping him alive.

There is no cure for myasthenia gravis, but treatment can help relieve signs and symptoms, such as weakness of arm or leg muscles, double vision, drooping eyelids, and difficulties with speech, chewing, swallowing and breathing.

Wilfred was the only patient who was in a conscious state in ICU and when I walked over to greet him who greeted me with a big smile. Of course I couldn't help but smile back.

The disease has affected Wilfred's ability to speak so I had to rely on his career to tell me his story.

If there is one thing I've learned in life that is one of most precious things in this world is when a person struggling to survive, living in pain but will still muster what little strength they have to greet you with a smile.

I promised Wilfred I will be back soon to visit him again and I intend to keep my promise.

So why share this story with you?

Well I don't expect everyone to understand why I do what I do or why I will stop at nothing to bring down a corrupt system of Government including those behind it.

It is because I am blessed every day to be touched and inspired by people like Winfred who are stuck in a hospital bed and need some of us to fight their fights for them.

- Commentary by Bryan Kramer, MP.