Part 6 - More unexpected excitement in Manaus

On the first boat ride from Juma Lodge back to Manaus, Matthew started not feeling well.   After we reached the transfer point and were waiting for the van to arrive he got sick to his stomach.  After that he said he felt better although he was tired. However, after arriving at the airport he progressively started to feel worse, with fever like symptoms, and severe abdominal pain. We had arrived early, and found that we could only check in two hours before the flight.  By the time we could check in he was feeling awful, but we decided to see if he would feel better by the time the flight was ready to board.  As we started to go through security he threw up again.  The security people didn't seem to know what to do and seemed to be telling us to just go around him, although they may have thought we were not altogether. Finally a GOL airlines employee who spoke English came to help. He suggested we go to first aid and said he would go with us to help. He was extremely nice and quite possibly the most helpful customer service type person I have ever met working for any company.   When it became apparent that we would not be able to make our flight he took our boarding passes and retrieved our luggage, and got us booked on flights to Salvador the next day. I expected his help to stop there, but after a while when the first aid people were done he said their recommendation was for Matthew to go to the hospital for some additional tests. He said he would go with us, and had a voucher for the cab ride to the hospital and gave me a taxi voucher for us to get back to the airport the next day. When we couldn't get a cab to take 5 people he sent us in a cab and told us to wait at the hospital entrance and he would follow which he did.  We ended up being at the hospital until midnight, having left the airport around 4 PM. The GOL airline guy stayed the entire time, translating and trying to get things moving faster at the hospital.

Matthew leaving the ER with copies of his x-rays

Matthew sleeping once we got to hotel - he didn't even get his hat off

 After leaving the hospital we went to a hotel that GOL Airlines had arranged, spent the night there, and then left the following day to go back to the airport.  Total cost for medical care at the airport and hospital, changing our flights, transport to hospital and hotel, room and meals at the hotel, zero.  That's correct, ZERO.  GOL provided vouchers for taxi rides and the hotel, including meals. Medical care in Brazil at public hospitals is free, even to visiting foreigners. 

We want to nominate Daniel Ramos for GOL Airlines employee of the year.  He helped us from a few minutes after Matthew got sick when they summoned someone who spoke English until we left the hospital at midnight. Over 10 hours. He insured Matthew got care at the first aid station in the hospital, that we got our bags that we had checked, he re-booked our flights, got us taxi vouchers and a taxi, made reservations at a hotel for us, and spent the seven and half hours at the hospital translating for us, and helping to insure Matthew got proper treatment and that all our questions were answered. Even when we left the hospital he gave us his cell phone number in case there was any issue with when we arrived at the hotel. He truly was our guardian angel. It is heartwarming to known there are people like Daniel out there who are willing to go the extra mile and help out total strangers in need. Part of what he did I am sure is part of his job, and reflects GOL corporate value of customer service, but he clearly went the extra mile. The airline was going to send someone else to the hospital when it was taking so long and his shift was supposed to be over, but Daniel insisted on staying - he was personally invested in making sure everything was resolved. Even at midnight he had a smile on his face and wanted to know if there was anything else we needed. We can't thank him enough, and need to find an opportunity to pay it forward. 

Matthew with his guardian angel, Daniel

We would see Daniel three more times before we left Manaus. He met us at 2 PM the next day before we were checking in to give us some of Matthew's medical papers from the hospital.  After we checked in I discovered they had printed two copies of Elizabeth's boarding pass for the second flight segment and none for me.  I tried to get an agent to help but they did not understand English, so they summoned Daniel and he quickly resolved the issue.  Two hours later when we were boarding the flight, the first face we saw as we boarded was Daniel's. We laughed and said thank you again.  He was just helping overall with the boarding process, but it was as if our guardian angel was there to make sure there were no issues. I half expected to look out the window during the flight and see Daniel sitting out on the wing, making sure nothing bad happened during the flight.

The diagnosis at the hospital was that Matthew might have appendicitis. They said that the tests they could run were not conclusive, and we would need to get some other tests done at another facility.  However, his symptoms had mostly subsided by the time we left the hospital and they said that if his symptoms did not return or get worse we could continue our trip and he could get the tests done after we returned home.   We learned a number of things about the Brazilian medical system from our experience and from Daniel, and I will add more later on that subject.