Southern Baptist missionaries Carl and Kay Garvin are in stable condition after two robbers attacked them Feb. 23 in Tanzania. The two Arkansas natives were airlifted to Nairobi, Kenya, where Carl, 60, underwent surgery for a broken arm and lacerations. He also will have surgery to repair ligament damage to his knee. Kay, 56, was shot in the chest. The bullet entered close to her heart, missing the aorta by half an inch. It went through the lung and nestled against the skin on her back. The surgeon will make an incision to remove the bullet.
The nightmare began the night of Feb. 23 when two robbers entered their hotel room. The Garvins, first-term missionaries, were working with an Arkansas volunteer team in an area south of Moshi, Tanzania. The two intruders beat the hotel door down with a machete. Carl tried holding the door, but an arm swinging the machete crashed through and sliced into Carl’s forearm, breaking it and cutting it open. The second intruder entered the room and shot Kay in the chest.
A nurse for 30 years in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps and the National Guard, Carl’s medical training took over. He immediately applied pressure to the chest wound and treated Kay, an action that medical consultants say probably saved her life. He also wrapped his arm and applied pressure to stop his own bleeding.
A Tanzanian man drove them the two hours to the nearest clinic. The Arkansas volunteers rode with the Garvins to the Moshi clinic, and one prayed continuously until the couple was put on a plane for further treatment. (BP)
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