The Courage to Do What’s Right

Some stories begin with an illness.

Drake’s began with a decision to do the right thing.

An architect by profession, Drake accepted a construction project in Venezuela. He moved there with his wife and their young son, who was about five or six years old. They expected an exciting adventure, an opportunity to build a new chapter of their lives while working abroad.

It didn’t take long for Drake to become concerned about what he was seeing on the job. According to Drake, he witnessed bribery, questionable construction practices, and work that he believed was unsafe. Believing it was the right thing to do, he reported his concerns to the local authorities.

Not long afterward, another family, remarkably similar to Drake’s, moved into the neighborhood. They became fast friends. The families spent time together, and the invitations to dinner became frequent.

Then something began to change.

Drake, his wife, and their young son all started feeling ill.

At first, the symptoms were easy to dismiss. But as time passed, Drake became increasingly uneasy. There were conversations that struck him as suspicious, details that didn’t seem to fit, and a growing feeling that something was terribly wrong.

Drake came to believe that his family was being slowly poisoned.

Fearing for their safety, he made a decision that would change their lives. In the middle of the night, he packed up his wife and son and left Venezuela as quickly as they could.

Once they returned home, medical testing revealed that all three family members had arsenic in their systems. Drake’s levels were the highest.

By the time he arrived at our center, he wasn’t simply recovering from a toxic exposure. He was recovering from fear, uncertainty, and the emotional burden of wondering what might have happened had his family stayed.

Our goal was to support his recovery. We focused on helping his body heal from the damage that had occurred while giving him a place where he could begin rebuilding his health.

As treatment progressed, we began to notice encouraging changes. Toward the end of his course of hyperbaric oxygen therapy, Drake told us he was feeling much better.