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Patient Story: Wheelchair for Jose

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José Permillot Salgado was diagnosed with diabetes mellitus type II over 30 years ago, but his story with MEDLIFE began on October 6, 2011. This was the day our patient follow-up coordinator and nurse, Ruth Varona, paid Permillot a visit in his residence after receiving an email about his deteroriating condition. We were informed about his needs through a friend of our international liason, Angie Vidal, who had been close to his family for some time.

Originally from Lima, José is a bit of a prankster and enjoys playfully teasing those around him and cracking jokes in criollo fashion — frequently using typical slang from the southwestern coast of Perú. At nearly 67 years of age, he says that his only reason for living and staying somewhat healthy is to stick around for his grandchildren, Karissa, José Jesús and José Antonio, ages 10, 8, and 6 respectively.After having accompanied José to several clinic check-ups and covering all of his medical expenses and procedures, including the necessary amputation of his right leg, MEDLIFE delivered a brand-new wheelchair to his residence on November 5th, 2011 and sat down to speak with him about his story.During our chat, he admitted to never having taken any precautions after being diagnosed to prevent damaging his internal organs any further. He added, “I consider myself an idiot for not having done anything when I could have… and now I might lose my second leg as well.” José, who formely sold breakfast entreés and prepared coffee and other beverages as a street vendor, always enjoyed playing soccer on the weekends in healthier times. Today, he lives with his wife, Ruth, and his two eldest grandchildren in the district of Lima in Perú. He hopes to be able to continue to watch them grow for as long as possible and greatly appreciates MEDLIFE’s help along the way.

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Reya Seby
Western University

This trip motivated me more to pursue a career in the healthcare field so that I can use my resources to help those who need it the most, similar to MEDLIFE’s mission.

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Victoria DiCanio
University of Connecticut

It was most enjoyable to finish the hard work and see how big a difference a group of individuals can make. It was such an amazing experience.

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Anita Woo
University of Toronto

I enjoyed the mobile clinics the most, especially the dental and triage portions. I would definitely recommend a MEDLIFE trip, it was a great experience.

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David Saff
Maclay High School

The most enjoyable part of my trip was hanging out with the amazing group of kids I was with. I would highly recommend a MEDLIFE volunteer trip to others.

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Nova Southeastern University

This trip made everything that I was learning in my public health courses come to life and immersed me in a new culture while also learning about medicine.

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Abygail Youmans
College of Charleston

Being involved with MEDLIFE is not like joining another club - its bigger than that. It is about joining a movement that seeks to help change people’s quality of life for forever.

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Emi Hofmann
University of Central Florida

Not only was I able to participate in a week long Mobile Clinic, shadowing doctors of all types of specialties including pharmacy, dentistry, gynecology, and more, but I was also able to learn about the culture and visit incredible places.

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Julian Takagi-Stewart
University of Toronto

One thing that I really loved about this trip was that MEDLIFE made sure that the volunteers got an understanding of the complexity of issues that lead to underprivileged people in communities outside of the main city

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Hannah Van Hofwegen
University of Ottawa

Whether it was basketball with the local kids, assisting the doctors, talking with families, building washrooms, holding babies, or spending time with the people who were on the SLT with me, this was an amazing opportunity that I would do over and over again.

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Isabelle Holt
Cornell University

I loved learning about the patients MEDLIFE has followed and how they offer real help to people with chronic/urgent conditions. It is amazing how the organization formed real connections with the communities.

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Valerie Lindeborg
Parent

Our family had the privilege of participating in multiple trips with Nick [founder] and his amazing staff. Their expertise made the trips unforgettable while instilling in my boys the fundamentals of good character: selflessness, compassion, and empathy.

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Harry Vildibill
University of Georgia

As an aspiring physician, MEDLIFE motivated me to further continue my goal of becoming a doctor. In fact, I enjoyed the Tanzania Service Learning Trip so much that I decided to go on another trip to Cusco, Peru.