By Catherine Olian
Rock Center
Dr. Elmer Mejia has dedicated his life to trying to save lobster divers severely injured with decompression sickness. The waiting area of his small clinic in La Ceiba, Honduras is often so packed with injured men that it resembles a combat clinic.
Dr. Mejia and his family work around the clock treating the divers, many of whom are paralyzed when they arrive. Often, Dr. Mejia serves as his own ambulance, racing to the port where the lobster boats dock to pick up the sick divers. He’s the only doctor in Honduras who specializes in treating the thousands of men who risk their lives diving for lobster on the ocean floor, most often without proper training or equipment.
“Without him, they’d have nothing, absolutely,” said Eric Douglas, a diving safety expert and author who has worked with Dr. Mejia.
He says the doctor has been able to cure divers even 4 or 5 days after they become paralyzed, something that most hyperbaric physicians thought was impossible.
“He does it without any desire for recognition. He just sees the need and wants to take care of his own people.” Douglas said.
Elmer Mejia grew up dirt poor in Tegucigalpa, the capitol of Honduras. He became a Navy diver and medic, and in his early 20s volunteered to work at a clinic where he was exposed to the plight of the lobster divers for the first time. It was run by an Episcopal priest from Wyoming, Gus Sabrador, who became Mejia’s mentor and asked his American congregation to help Mejia go to medical school.
Mejia became a medical doctor with the mission of establishing a real clinic to help the divers, who are desperately poor and have no other medical care. He continued his studies in Texas where he was taught by a leading specialist in hyperbaric medicine, Dr. Caroline Fife. She says she was amazed by his determination to learn and succeed.
“He’s undaunted by impossible obstacles,” Dr. Fife said.
One seemingly impossible obstacle was to find – and get the money for – a hyperbaric chamber and get it to Honduras. The only way to cure decompression sickness and give paralyzed divers a chance to walk again is by using the chamber, but they can cost as much as $50,000., which was totally out of reach for the doctor. When Mejia heard that a used one was being refurbished in Virginia, he and his brother rented a truck and drove the two-ton chamber to Honduras themselves, a trip that took more than a week. Once again, the Episcopal parish in Wyoming helped raise money.
Today, the chamber creates miracles every day. Men who couldn’t walk often leave the chamber on their feet. Not everyone responds, unfortunately, and only newly injured divers are candidates for the treatment. The divers are poor and cannot pay but Dr. Mejia doesn’t turn anyone away. He says the only way he can stay in business is because he doesn’t pay his staff – everyone who works at the clinic is part of his family. Some of the boat owners help pay for the treatment of the divers, but the whole operation is run on a shoestring.
The devoted doctor says he’ll be there for the divers as long as they need him. He says he gets his satisfaction from seeing his patients, doomed to a life of paralysis without his help, get better and go home.
“I feel so pleased when they go back to normal, that is my payment,” Dr. Mejia said.
Editor’s note: Donations to Dr. Mejia’s clinic can be made through the Episcopal Diocese of Wyoming. A tax-deductible fund has been set up (http://thefoundation.diowy.org/digital_faith/campaigns/3100013) to support the clinic.
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This story was so awful. I get that you guys are liberals, but come one. I said I would never watch NBC news before. Now, I remember why.
They act as though it is always our fault! Are they not responsible for choosing to do this? Yes, it is awful. However, Americans are not the problem for purchasing lobster that is sold.
I agree - white guilt. Starting to get really old. If something is wrong; blame on the United States.
Here's an idea:educate them. Follow a bubble up and no need for a chamber. Education is the key!
I hope you will differentiate between warm water lobstering as depicted in this story and the cold water lobstering found in the Maine and other New England/Canadian areas. You make it seem like all americans eat only warm water lobsters.. I know you know this is NOT true. This story's credibility is suspect due to your lack of full disclosure
It is absolutly crazy to blaim the accidents and misfortunes of these lobster divers on the americans, we do not employ them to dive for lobsters, in the poor conditions they do. It is dangerous and a crazy risk, that they take.
not the us that's the prob.
companies that pay pennies per tail & don't care.
Turks...pleeze..not the ruthless corporation angle again..maybe these tails are only worth pennies
NBC is the worst at douche journalism. Douchealism?
Ever had to feed ur family from the ocean??? I have, Douche bag.
Do ur research
Turks - Maybe you should get a degree and re-invent yourself for the sake of your family
Why are all of the journalists such liberals? Terrible!
Liberal means caring about others. U r self centered & only care about $$$ for ur self.
If you were in their situation you would die.
Also, they should interview the companies that employ these individuals instead of blaming Americans!
ditto
Current did it first
BTW .. you can immediately tell the different between warm water lobster and cold water lobster... Get EDUCATED!
it is a sad day when we are supposed to feel bad for people that dont know what there are doing. We in the US came up with lobster traps so stuff like that dosent happen. this is when the darwin theory comes into effect.
I refuse to accept responsibility for these men. Absolutely tragic story but they decide to continue such unsafe diving. Our lobster industry is so totally regulated because Americans care about humanity. Honduras can learn from our regulations and put similar laws in place. I am sorry they feel compelled to put their lives in peril but this is 2012. Welcome out of the dark ages.
I think some of you are suggesting that the USA should provide rules and regulations for another sovereign nation. Are you the same people who scream that we should not be in the middle east telling those countries how to rule their people? Pick a side people.
Brian, you are my favorite mainstream news channel anchorman(person). This story is relevant only in terms of Honduras' failed economy, poor political system, and dependance on drug trade. This story made it seem like your channel blames Americans for the state of these divers. I am still listening, Natalie just said that there is nothing we can do unless lobster diving is banned. Why would we do that? Let Honduras do that. Let them take care of their own people. If Americans want to eat lobster, we should be able to eat lobster. If Hinduras needs to police thier trade, and their diving practices better, then they shuold do that.
I do not think I am gonna watch Rock Centar again. Quit, please quit, making Americans responsible for every other countries problems.
So what's the value of the story exactly? People choosing to fish for lobster in a more dangerous way is a personal choice. I feel bad for anyone who feels that taking a risk of injury is necessary to feed their families but the story was reported in such a way as to make it seem like it's the selfish, greedy americans causing the horror occuring to these people. Hogwash. What ever happend to personal responsibility? And I don't even like lobster.
This isn't a MAIN STREAM NEWS program. It's an information program. Like Nat Geo, they point out the struggles that 3rd world people go through to survive.
Yes they made it seem that the we (the US) is the problem but the reality is is that the demand world wide.
Turks - The problem is the divers who let greed cloud their thinking and hold their breath to long..I will bet there are plenty of smart divers that know when to come up for air. Of course then this would be a non-story. Why do your type always find someone else to blame for your short-comings?
I'm watching this story in TV and I have to say, this is crap.
Yes, the divers are getting hurt, but it is NOT the fault of Americans eating lobster. They admit they dive until they run out of air, causing them to bolt to the surface causing the bends. Dr. Meja says this will keep happening as long as we keep eating lobster. How ridiculous!! And, if we were to stop what then? The only other way to make money is drug trafficking. That's better??
How about teaching these divers?? How about taking responsibility for their own actions? They are doing it to themselves. The doctor is even driving them back to the docks!!
Teach these divers to dive safety, teach them to use lobster traps.
Stop using the US as a scapegoat.
I'm watching this on TV now in shock. yeah make the americans feel bad for eating lobster. They're diving conditions are not our fault. Who do the divers work for or who is taking their catch to market, Those people are responsible for their diving conditions not people eating lobsters.
This story is totally nonsensical! WHAT was this story about? Was it evil America, the doctor, or the process for catching spiny lobster (which are actually mostly caught using a simple trap- )? I will not disagree that it is terrible that these guys they showed on the program are going through health issues, but nobody has enslaved these people and forced them to dive for lobster. America should have not been highlighted in the story as much as it was- as if it is America's fault! And if people do not buy lobster then this diving is in vain anyhow. Oy vey!!
I for one do not eat lobster but I also do not support your ignorant theory that it is all Americans fault these uneducated people suffer. They live in thier own country with thier own laws. If they can't manage thier laws and work place saftey and generate economic growth for jobs then let em drowned!
I am SOOO Sick and Tired of this BS liberal crap that is peddled and passed as journalism...ARE you frickin' kidding me??...NBC... Nothing But Crap!!!...Excuse me, but I don't want to burn the butter for MY FRICKIN' LOBSTER!!!...
Do you ever watch Nat Geo??
This is not main stream breaking news...It's a commentary on 3rd world conditions being exploited by world markets.
Have you ever fed your family off your farm?
Turk - Come on man, earlier post you said you were a fisherman, now your a farmer? What is it surf or turf? Come on man!
Dr. Mejia's clinic clearly displayed the diving flag with the DAN - Divers Alert Network logo. DAN educates the diving and medical field in the safe diving practices, including and especially diving medicine related to the hyperbaric chamber Dr. Mejia was using. I can't help but wonder why, ancillary to the industry related checks and balances, safer diving practices aren't also highlighted? Granted, this is a vital part of this local Honduran economy (next to the drug trade), but local and international eyes should be focused on the safer means of extracting the lobster - WITHOUT over fishing and eradicating the means to their economy.
Teach drivers about nitro tox (the bends)
improve the tank fill methods (no nitrogen) . in my days as a diver I never
used tanks. No bends!!! All dives were 50’ or less. No fear of tox!!!!!
Turks - Get a teaching degree then go down and educate the divers, it would be a win win.
Just saw the program. What pathetic claptrap. How is any of this the fault of Americans? Where is the Government of Honduras? When will Mosquito Indians start taking responsibility for their own safety? How about they buy themselves some air and depth gauges? Do they have any education?
They dive 90 miles off shore and down to 140' for Spiny Lobster? Sounds like they have over fished the near shore lobsters.
The sooner these Honourans start fixing there own situation the sooner you can find a real problem to report on.
There is no shame left in this country. The Tea Party idiots making comments here just do not get it...People use to not want foreign countries using little kids working in sweat shops for cheap labor. Not no more....bring it on. Who cares these poor uneducated people are being taken to the cleaners...Really no difference than what is going on in this country. As the tea partiers scream for joy they prance into church and pray for forgiveness on Sunday. What is happening to these hard working men is wrong. it is done all in the name of profit for few......Just like the good old USA.
This makes NO relevant sense at all! If you re-read this and can find one solid, well-rounded argument then you are one of these poor uneducated people that you speak of!
Then you carry your hopey changy shameful butt down there and help 'em out. I am NOT a TEA PARTY IDIOT.....I am a registered voter who is sick and tired of our country being held responsible for others being the IDIOTS...
amen
Okay, here's the deal. I live in Puerto Lempira, which is the largest city in La Moskitia, Honduras, and one of the main places these divers ship out of. I am an American and I eat lobster from time to time.
There are several problems that I see from the posts in this discussion forum. One, people who are in support of this kind of reporting and believe it although they have never been here to know the truth of the story, and two, people who are so dead-set on burying their heads in the sand that they are insulting the divers because the reporters did a sad and liberally biased job of reporting on this issue. There really is a problem and it is a sad one, but it's not the fault of American citizen.
Let me break it down for you. The reality of the situation is this. These divers know it's not safe and they choose to continue to dive for lobsters because they see it as their only means of supporting their families. It's truly not their only means, but they see it as such. Culturally they are hunters and this is a type of hunting, so they are doing what their tribes have done culturally for many generations. A few years back it was said they were outlawing diving for lobsters and making it a trap only industry. The divers here in La Moskitia were livid.
The math doesn't mean much to them since most of them have less than a 6 grade education. So when I, or some humanitarian worker or government official or whatever, tries to explain to them that they are not doing any good for their family by doing this work, they agree and yet next season they are the first ones on the boat. They enjoy it and, if they come back still able to walk, they bring back more money than they can usually get from anything else besides trafficking cocaine.
I read an earlier comment that said they have overfished the lobsters in the shallow areas. that is so true. Now they are overfishing the deeper ones and soon there will be no lobster in Honduras. Problem solved. But until that happens you won't talk most of them out of doing it.
The ones exploiting them, however, are not the Americans who take their families to Red Lobster for a family get together, but the lobster boat owners, who are the Caucasian, "caracol" people from Honduras' Bay Islands, for the most part. They take up to 40% of the divers'pay for "expenses", meaning they get a lot less than they should for their risk. The lobster diving has been banned here in Honduras before and every time the divers go to the capital and protest that the government is taking their livelihood away. Logic has no place in this region of the world.
Brian Williams has seen some horrible results of that fact and has done his best to report on it in his liberal fashion and those of you who support that type of thing are the reason this world is so messed up right now. Try this, come down here and find some way to talk these divers OUT of going to sea this next season. See what happens. I wish you the best of success. I really do.
Celia, I would respond to what you said if I could make any sense out of it, but I can't. Sorry. All I picked up is that you are definitely a supporter of the idea that because someone is suffering in the world it's not only our fault, as Americans, but it's also our responsibility to fix it. I think you have an overdeveloped sense of guilt and it's spilling over onto your neighbors.
celia - Read Roger Engles post he hits the nail on the head, except for the caracol white people exploiting them comment, he could have done without the race card statement. People of all colors will always exploit someone it is not a color issue. I get so tired of the self-loathers. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you regardless of race, religion, nationality, etc.
What terrrible journalism! The good doctor does great work, but you completely failed to zero in on the simple solution to their problem...gauges for their air tanks, and some simple dive training. For what the doctor was able to raise for the hyperbaric chamber, he could buy a lot of new dive equipment for those workers.
Exactly. ANd some of the U.S seafood companies and restaurants that buy all those lobster tails could help finance the equipment purchases.
So when did real journalism join the march of Jerry Springer and anything that shocks people is news?
I was moved by this segment instead of looking for blame or a copout I feel a solution is in order and if any one is organizing such an effort I would like to contribute.
check out www.petinternational.org . They make hand cranked carts that are helping some of these divers get around when they can no longer use their legs.
The reason I read the article (my internet here in honduras is too slow to watch the segment) is because I was looking for a way to get Dr. Mejia in touch with some friends who work with Pet International. Fancy seeing you here. I wonder how we can get in touch with Dr. Mejia. I'm currently trying to find an email address for the Episcopalian Diocese in Wyoming. Any help would be great.
Did you watch the show? I'm highly conservative. I watched and I don't see any problem with what was said. It was not about blaming Americans. They said what we should do is NOT to stop eating lobster. Not to change our habits/lives. The purpose is simply to make us aware of what is going on in the rest of the world. They mentioned blame being on the companies wanting a cheaper way to get the lobster, thus greater profit. I agree an interview with these companies would have been ideal, but come on we all know big corporations would object to that. I found this segment/article very informative and heart breaking. I feel like their main goal is creating a platform for others, other than Dr. Mejia to donate and help these people who are stuck in a viscous economic cycle. As Americans we are fortunate, and if I can help my heart compels me to do so. I saw no political bias in the article and it seems like a real stretch for anyone to create one. It's about the people of Honduras and their struggle to survive and provide for themselves and their families. Stop making things about politics and take if for what is is.
Keis k - your comments complement mine. Some of the earlier comments, obviously, had no thought process involved. Whether calling attention to worldwide unfair factory conditions, farming, or fishing practices that ultimately end up at the US consumer's home and plate - we, the consumers, should have our attention called. AS WELL as the rest of the world, and in this context the Honduran government which probably issues the export licenses to the American importers, to the wholesale buyers, retail ... and so on. Safer commercial/local diving is the beginning to alleviating Dr. Mejia's overcrowded chamber.
I like your comment. There is a difference between social responsibility and zeroing in on Americans eating habits. You BET it was blaming the US....It is unfortunate for these Honduran men but they are choosing to do this job or run drugs...NBC should forward this piece to the Honduran gov't....oh yeah, they could care less....so where do you draw a line?....instead lets just let the US know how horrible we are...ugh....along with dumping on Iowa for being too white, too churchy, too methy....now we are too lobstery....Unfortunately it IS about politics....
well said
Keis k ~ Thank you for your intelligent comments. I am amazed that a segment pointing out the plight of other people must be considered by other posters as "blaming America." Consumers should always be educated consumers. Shining a stark light on the situation is exactly how positive change will occur.
I applaud you for your rational, well-said comment. It's just sad that I've had to scroll for so long to find one.
I applaud you for your rational, well-said comment. It's just sad that I had to scroll for so long to find one.
Amen..you speak like a true and real humanitarian...I applaud that u were able to read and post a reply regarding the real aspects of the story...None of the "other" posts were based on anything said in the story...I do think it would help if people knew the companies that were at the final destination (Miami) for importation of lobsters...Wouldnt it be nice for the US govt to pass a simple regulation on importers that the shipments HAD to have details on the way the lobsters were harvested and where they were shippped from...