More Central Texans head to Haiti

DRIPPING SPRINGS, Texas (KXAN) - Early Friday morning, Jay McBurney looked over his six-seater airplane at ABIA general aviation.

The Dripping Springs resident is readying his ride to Haiti, where he's delivering medical supplies and bringing doctors to the outlying areas as part of a pilot's project to bring aid to areas still in desperate need of help.

“What we’re doing is using smaller airplanes and flying into the smaller airports that have short runways,” said McBurney. “The idea is to get medical personnel and medical supplies into the outlying areas and field hospitals.”

McBurney will fly to Rockport to pick up his father, a radiologist. They will then head to Fort Lauderdale to gather supplies and two other doctors.

McBurney and his wife heard about the project through a pilot’s association. They will also work with a relief effort called Bahamas Habitat . In just a day’s time the couple raised $4,000 to fund the flights that will shuttle supplies back and forth between Haiti and Nassau in the Bahamas.

At the Hill Country Bible Church, medical supplies are stacking up. They have gathered 26,000 pounds of medicine and supplies from across Texas. A team of 18 volunteers including Dr. Joel Hurt and Dr. Scott Smith from Texas Orthopedics will follow the supplies to support the Mission of Hope Haiti . Many of the injured need orthopedic care for broken bones and fractures.

“There are some hospitals still working but in very primitive conditions,” said Dr. Scott Smith. “They’ve run out of medical supplies, antibiotics, instruments to fix fractures and that’s why we’re going down there. We can kind of re-supply their stock.”

The two charter planes will leave for Cape Haiti, 80 miles north of Port Au Prince, on Saturday. Because of the number of donations, a third plane will be needed. The Hill Country Bible Church is collecting donations on their website to help pay for fuel for the airplanes.