Too scared to sleep and jolted to her feet by each unfamiliar sound near the wall of the Hope Grows Haiti mission, RN Marie Nieminen prayed that the medical expedition where she had found her life’s purpose was not going to become the place where she would die.

Nieminen was the team leader among eight Canadian nurses stranded at the remote mission this past February, when the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince exploded in waves of political violence that killed several, forced the Canadian Embassy to close, and made perilous the 90-minute drive from the compound to the island’s only airport. 

None of the nurses knew exactly what was going on. Days after arriving outside the impoverished community of Petit Paradis, their only link to the world was the odd text message from someone back in Canada. The nurses had no access to television, internet, news reports, or this dire advisory from the American state department: “There are currently widespread, violent and unpredictable demonstrations in Port-au-Prince and elsewhere in Haiti…Protests, tire burning, and road blockages are frequent and unpredictable. Violent crime, such as armed robbery, is common,” the advisory read. “Local police may lack the resources to respond effectively to serious criminal incidents, and emergency response, including ambulance service, is limited or non-existent.”

The 53-year-old Nieminen did know this: weeks earlier, her doctors had discovered a heart arrhythmia serious enough to investigate and later delay surgery unrelated to her heart. She had left from her home in Ajax for the week-long trip to Haiti Feb. 6 with a 10-day supply of medication that if reduced too quickly, or stopped suddenly, would create medical risks. 

When Nieminen learned violent blockades would prevent her team from getting to the airport for their return flight on Feb. 13 (Air Canada only flies to and from Haiti on Wednesdays) she cut her daily dosage in half. By Feb. 18, with medication for just one more day, Nieminen began suffering from symptoms that come when someone is weaned off too quickly.