By David Vitrano

L’Observateur

LAPLACE – When the earthquake hit Haiti in January, it produced shockwaves felt throughout the globe. Not literally, of course, but in the hearts of minds of people across the world.

And nowhere were these aftershocks felt more acutely than in Southeast Louisiana. Having recently experienced a city-crushing disaster, many across the region knew firsthand the horrors of not having a home to go to, water to drink, food to eat or doctors to see.

While most were content to offer monetary donations for the suffering citizens, some brave few headed to the ravaged country to offer their assistance. One such individual was River Parishes Hospital anesthesiologist Sebastian Villarreal.

After hearing a fellow physician he knew from Tulane had made the trip to Haiti, the Uruguay-born physician knew what he had to do.

“At the end of the day, it was just like a feeling,” he said. “I just remembered after Katrina … it was surreal. I could just imagine it times 100.”

So, despite his own reservations and those of his pregnant wife, Villarreal hopped on a plane to the Caribbean nation.

He landed in Haiti about a month after the devastation occurred.

“From what I’d gathered, it had gotten better,” he said, adding, “Even though things had gotten better, they weren’t good.”

All the news reports in the world couldn’t prepare Villarreal for the reality that would hit him when he got to the makeshift camp set up for the earthquake refugees.

Facing armed guards and scores of injured and hungry citizens, as he headed to the impromptu hospital, a man came out of the crowd and nearly vomited on the doctor’s shoes. This rude awakening left him thinking, “What did I get myself into?”

Still, his resolve to help remained, and Villarreal jumped into action.

After a brief introduction to the operations of the camp, the physician said he “put blinders on and focused on the job.”

And that job involved helping as many people as possible using whatever resources were around. Despite the hardships such a setup incurred, Villarreal relished the idea of caring for people without the bureaucracy that surrounds medical work in the U.S. Free from the usual mounds of paperwork, he was free to practice medicine in its truest sense.

And although it was difficult to see such extreme cases every day, he said his trip was filled with more highlights than lowlights.

Villarreal said he has made lifelong friends and experienced some once-in-a-lifetime occurrences. He was there when they brought in the man who had been trapped in the rubble for 29 days. He associated with volunteers from around the world. He even got to watch the Saints win the Super Bowl with the 82nd Airborne Unit.

And while many might have been relieved when their one-week tour of duty ended, Villarreal said he experienced a full spectrum of emotions.

“It was the best job I ever had in my life,” he said.

He returned to his much-relieved wife on their anniversary, just in time to take advantage of “dinner reservations” at Café Du Monde.

“She was just happy I was home,” he noted.

But even the nearly 1,500-mile distance that separated the doctor from the devastation could not dampen his feelings for the work he did there.

“You appreciate things a lot more. Little things. And it doesn’t go away,” said Villarreal. “I don’t think there’s one person who hasn’t been affected for the rest of their lives.”