Osly was a bit of a celebrity at the hospital that day. People kept tracking him down with little gifts - a lacrosse jersey, a baseball cap, a notebook, a football and a little radio with earbuds. He greeted every present with a merci or a b eaucoup. He hugged these strangers, trying to find a way to express his gratitude without shared words.
Wearing the cap and the earbuds, he looked very much like an American kid.
Marilyn Cook, a New Jersey nurse who has gone on several of Gashti's missions to Haiti, sat and watched Osly with a big smile.
There have been times in their travels when she has felt there was just too much need, too deep a hole to fill, that they could never do enough.
But, she said, "Dr. Gashti always says, 'little steps.' You can only do so much. You have to believe you're doing as much as you can."
Said Gashti: "We have made a lot of difference. We take care of them the same way we would take care of any patients in the United States and they know that. ...
"Any little thing we do there is something they didn't have or something nobody else was going to offer them."
And he has done so very much for this one boy and his family, arranging the trip, putting them up in his home, paying thousands of dollars out of his own pocket for a chance at a cure.
"She is thanking the doctor and God for blessing this child," the translator said, relaying Pierre's words.
"If not by the power of God, the doctor would not have found this child's case. This child could have lost this life."
Echoed Osly, "Thank everyone for giving me my life back."
