Haiti Rehabilitation Centre

Thanks to your continued generosity, Grace Rehabilitation Centre (GRC) remains a lifeline for people living with spinal cord injuries, strokes and other neurological conditions in northern Haiti. At a time when services across the country are under immense strain, GRC continues to be the only centre in the whole of the north of Haiti offering specialised spinal cord injury care. Every day, your support enables our Haitian team to provide consistent, compassionate care to both inpatients and outpatients.

One of those patients is Gustav.

Gustav is originally from Mirebalais, in central Haiti. Last year, escalating gang violence spread beyond Port-au-Prince into towns like Mirebalais, forcing many families to flee. Gustav lost his home when gangs burned houses in his neighbourhood, and he had no choice but to leave.

Years earlier, Gustav had already faced a life-changing injury. After leaving school to help support his family, he travelled to the Dominican Republic, where he trained and worked as a carpenter. In 2012, while working on the fifth floor of a building, he fell with heavy materials on his back and sustained a spinal cord injury.

After his accident, Gustav sought care in multiple hospitals, both in the Dominican Republic and in Haiti. Over time, his wheelchair broke, and without the means to replace it, his mobility disappeared altogether. As he shared, “I would be in the house, and I would be thirsty, but I couldn’t even go out to get a water.”

Gustav arrived at GRC in October and was admitted as an inpatient. He was provided with a wheelchair and began a structured rehabilitation programme. Reflecting on the difference this care has made, he said, "I went to many hospitals, I found care, but here it is different. Here I feel like I’m not sick. The way that the centre is adapted, the way that they care – I feel really comfortable. Since the time that I had my accident I felt like I didn’t receive any care at all. But when I got here I feel a lot of improvement.”

Gustav is now learning to use a walker and rebuilding strength and stability. Despite being far from home and without family nearby, he told us, “The way everybody behaves with me, they treat me well. I don’t have anyone here but I feel I am independent.”

Looking ahead, Gustav hopes to return home with renewed confidence and to set up a small business. “I hope that I return home a different person to how I was when I came here.”