Elephant Attack

Olga and her husband were sleeping peacefully in their tent.  They had camped here in Chobe National Park several times before, and their experience gave them great respect for the wildlife around them - particularly elephant, which are found here in the greatest concentration of anywhere in Africa.

Nothing prepared them for what was to happen next.

At about 5:30 in the morning, they started to hear the rustling, breaking branches, and heavy footfalls of an elephant herd approaching.  With no discernible provocation, one elephant became suddenly agitated, trumpeting and stamping very close to the tent.  Suddenly a tusk came through the wall of the tent, pierced Olga's back, and lifted her off of the ground.  In shock, neither husband or wife was able to move before one of the elephant's legs crushed the side of the tent, quickly followed by another tusk which this time completely impaled Olga.

I was sitting in the office on flight standby when the call came.  We knew that with the level of medical facilities available in the town of Kasane, we would have to be as fast as possible in getting advanced care to Olga, and just as fast in transporting her to the hospital in Johannesburg.  We launched with a doctor and a medic on board, and after a two hour flight had Doc and Collin busy stabilizing her and preparing her for the flight south.  When they returned from the hospital, we were fueled and ready to load her and her husband onto the aircraft.

When we have patients on board, we use the radio callsign "Mercy One."  This tells the traffic controllers and other aircraft that we require a clear route ahead, with no delays to our flight because of its critical medical status.  Upon our safe arrival in Johannesburg, Olga's husband shook our hands, saying in his broken English, "You are called Mercy One. That is a good name. Thank you for showing us mercy today."

I am thankful that the Lord has given us here at Flying Mission the ability to translate, in some small way, the deep mercy He has shown us into mercy for others.