An infant receives medical treatment in Haiti. (Submitted by Sean Large)

Bio: Sean Large is a paramedic from southern Ontario's Peel Region. He's a volunteer with GlobalMedic, a Toronto-based non-governmental organization that offers emergency relief services to victims of disaster around the world. Large went to Haiti after the 2010 earthquake to assist in the recovery effort. Ahead of the first anniversary of Haiti's earthquake, the CBCNews.ca Community team asked him to share his most enduring memories of his time there.

My story: A year ago, Haiti was struck by a 7.0-magnitude earthquake that forever changed the lives of not only Haitians, but rescuers and aid workers all over the world. As a member of GlobalMedic's Rapid Response Team, I was preparing to deploy to Haiti within hours of hearing the news. Not knowing what to expect, a team of emergency services workers from around the Greater Toronto Area -- including paramedics, a doctor and a water engineer -- began the long journey to Haiti.  

Once in Haiti, the destruction was surreal: buildings destroyed, S.O.S. signs, bodies lying in the streets, people digging in the rubble for loved ones. We all knew we had a lot of work ahead of us. Once in Port-au-Prince, our first stop was the Adventist Hospital, which was so damaged that all the patients were outside under tarps, in vehicles [and] all sorts of makeshift tents. Doctors were performing surgery in the parking lot under tarps, and without much-needed medications and supplies. Beside the makeshift operating room sat a sole nurse scrubbing razor blades so they could be used for the next surgery.

Out of all the countries that I have deployed to, Haiti was the one that hit me the hardest. Out of all the experiences and memories from Haiti, there are two that will forever be in my heart. The first -- seeing a mother with two seven-day-old infants in her arms (the remaining two infants of triplets born just before the earthquake) camped out from the compound that our team was staying at. No food, water, milk or shelter. They had no nutrition since they lost everything in the earthquake. After placing feeding tubes into the infants' stomachs, we transported them to the Israeli field hospital, which was much better equipped to care for these infants than the local hospital. In fact, if these infants had any chance, it was our only option. But due to the road conditions and rubble blocking the roads, only one survived.

The second memory is when I went to assess the needs of an orphanage and held a young boy in my arms. He was happy to have help come from Canada and gave me a big smile and a huge hug. I remember wishing that I could take him home with me so that he would not have to experience this kind of destruction again.

Before leaving Canada to deploy to Haiti, I recall being asked by several people the same question: "Why go to Haiti? It's unsafe and dangerous. You can be killed doing what you are doing." My response? Because if it were my family and friends, I would want people to come help us. I have to go.


Volunteer paramedic Sean Large holds a young Haitian boy. (Submitted by Sean Large)