FW Haitian learns family is alive

FORT WAYNE, Ind., (WANE) --- - Carl Philip Dorissant spent the past 48 hours watching the horror unfold in Haiti, waiting and praying that his family had survived.

"Not being able to talk to my parents, I couldn't sleep, I mean you don't know what's going on. That was the worse nightmare," Dorissant told NewsChannel 15.

Thursday, another attempt to call his family on the devastated island finally went through.
Dorissant's fear quickly turned to relief once he heard his mom's voice.

He says,"I called her and she was able to answer the phone, that's when she told me they were fine and the whole time she was in tears."

Amazingly, the family home, which is just 15 miles from Port-Au-Prince, is also OK.

Dorissant's sister is a doctor. He says she's turned the house into a makeshift clinic to help those who weren't so lucky.

"One of the things she was saying, we need medical supplies, we need medical supplies because running a small hospital out of the house there's nothing you can get done," he told NewsChannel 15.

So, Dorissant's trying to get done what he can, more than a thousand miles from home. He'd like to work with his church, or local hospitals to collect supplies to send back to Haiti.

He wants to send shipments of Band-Aids, antibiotics or anything else that can help where so many simple resources are scarce.

"Being far away, it's kind of hard...I mean, I can't even imagine what they're going through right now, especially watching TV and seeing people sleeping on the street," Dorissant said.

With aid beginning to trickle into the country, Dorissant is realistic about how much he can send and how soon he'll be able to send it.

He's still in the early stages of organizing a drive or fundraiser.

If you'd like to help coordinate efforts with him, call 260-609-2275.