His trip turns into a nightmare

News 23 February, 2018
  • Photo courtesy
    During his trip in Africa, Emmanuel Gauthier has seen the magnificent falls.

    Amélie St-Yves

    Friday, February 23, 2018 15:30

    UPDATE
    Friday, February 23, 2018 20:00

    Look at this article

    THREE RIVERS | The journey of the dream of a globe-trotter turns into a nightmare for his family and friends, who must find $ 200,000 to save her life after having been the victim of malaria in Tanzania.

    Emmanuel Gauthier, 32, left at the beginning of the month of December for Africa, where he saw cliffs and breathtaking on the East coast, from the deserts to loss of view and waterfalls in paradise. His expedition of five months has turned sour this week in Tanzania, then he had to enter emergency at the hospital.

    The cell of his brother, Vincent Gauthier, rang around 6: 30 Thursday morning. A woman from the hospital Mnazi Mnoja had taken the cell of the sick, and was trying to call it on Facebook. She told him that her brother had contracted malaria, he was unconscious, his kidneys and his liver were in the process of letting go.

    No insurance

    The canadian consulate has confirmed during the day. Emmanuel Gauthier has had a short episode of wake up Thursday and was able to say a few words, before returning to a comatose state.

    In addition to his or her state of health, the problem is that a man of 32 years is gone without travel insurance and that bringing it back to Canada by air-ambulance will cost approximately $ 200,000, and all other expenses incurred by his hospital in Africa.

    The parents of the patient have already shelled out $ 15,000 for it to be transferred Friday to a hospital in Nairobi, Kenya, where care is better than in Tanzania. It’s a race against the clock for the family.

    “What is worrying, is time. The more time in advance before he receives the right care, the more likely it will die or keep scars “, laments her brother Vincent.

    The parents are terribly worried and can’t sleep.

    His mode of life

    The sister-in-law of Emmanuel Gauthier, Sophie Papineau, exchanged with his brother-in-law on Facebook there are a dozen of days and all was well.

    “The mode of life of Emmanuel, it is the journey. This is what makes him happy. It’s been many years that he has been travelling all over the world. It is hoped that it will continue to do so if it passes through, ” she said.

    Emmanuel Gauthier had, among others, explored South America, and spent three years in Europe.

    The family has launched a page on Facebook on Friday morning, the Transfer of Emmanuel in Canada, in order to raise funds for the return of emergency in the country. Over $ 17,000 has been raised in ten hours.

    This motivates the family to fight.

    “We really didn’t expect that. The beauty of the thing, it is that Emmanuel has friends everywhere in the world. Everyone wants to get involved, ” said Sophie Papineau.

    What is malaria ?

    Also called malaria, malaria is a parasitic infection of tropical usually transmitted by the bites of mosquitoes.

    The first symptoms are fever, diarrhea, headache, and chills. If it is not treated quickly enough, this can lead to convulsions, respiratory failure, coma or death.

    Source : Health Canada