After the devastating and deadly passage of Cyclone Chido in Mayotte, dozens of chronically ill people were transferred to the island of Reunion to receive their care. A difficult evacuation for some, who have no other choice but to leave their families behind.
A heartbreaking evacuation. While the Mayotte hospital was seriously damaged after Cyclone Chido passed through the archipelago last Saturday, several dozen chronically ill patients are transferred every day to Reunion Island to receive the necessary care.
Since December 15, an air and sea bridge deployed from Reunion Island has enabled the sending of equipment, medical and relief personnel to Mayotte, but also water and food.
On Monday, the Minister of Health Geneviève Darrieussecq indicated that “25 first medical evacuations of patients in urgent situations” had been carried out between Mayotte and Reunion. A difficult situation for some Mahorais, who find themselves forced to leave their families on the devastated archipelago and deprived of resources.
“There isn’t even any water.”
Otman was evacuated this Tuesday with other patients to Saint-Pierre hospital on Reunion Island. This Mahorais man had not been dialyzed for four days, a particularly dangerous situation for patients for whom dialysis is vital to eliminate waste and excess water in the body.
“We left behind us our families who don’t even have a house, who live in colleges and schools,” explains the Mahorais to BFMTV.
“There isn’t even any water, we drink water from the well which doesn’t smell good,” he explains. Otman, however, had no choice. He is chronically ill and cannot live decently without regular dialysis.
Cyclone Chido: why is it so difficult to establish a human toll in Mayotte?
A field hospital “will be operational by the end of the week or over the weekend at the latest,” Overseas Minister François-Noël Buffet announced this Wednesday on BFMTV. It will be able to accommodate up to 100 patients and will include intensive care, radiology and emergency services, according to information from BFMTV.
The still provisional toll shows 22 dead and 1,373 injured, according to figures communicated by the Ministry of the Interior.
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