Dr. Myung Park was on-call the weekend Hurricane Harvey hit. She woke to the sound of heavy rainfall and knew instantly, even in the dark, that weather conditions were severe. Her first concern was how — not if — she could get to Houston Methodist Hospital.
“Discussing the situation with my husband, we realized there was no other way except on foot,” recalls Park, chief of heart failure and transplantation cardiology. As Rice Village residents, the couple was less concerned about the distance to the Texas Medical Center than the depth of the water in their path.
Tethered together at the waist, their trip took roughly an hour. The current moved quickly, and in some parts, was very deep.
The danger of open manholes and live wires dawned on Park much later. At the time, reaching the critically sick — including one patient who received a transplant that weekend — was her singular focus.
One medical fellow walked an even greater distance than Park. His efforts, she says, were truly selfless and heroic.
“Our nurses were the voices on the other end of the phone. They were the lifeline in those hours of crisis,” Park says. “We formed a band of people who just did what was needed for a few days.”
Article originally published by Amber Elliott at the Houston Chronicle. Read the full article here.
