Concordia Student goes to Hospital for kidney infection

Concordia Student goes to Hospital for kidney infection

Erik Olsen, senior, found himself in an unexpected situation after being rushed to a Buenos Aires hospital due to pain in his abdomen.

The morning of August 20, twenty students from Concordia had class at Recoleta Park in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Olsen started feeling a deep pain in the right side of his stomach. He informed his friends, Rebecca Brandt and Sam Bretzmann, about the situation. Olsen was then taken by Brandt, Bretzmann and David Garcia, a native Spanish speaker. The taxi took the Concordia students straight to the emergency room at Juan A. Fernandez hospital.

They arrived at the hospital and the front desk attendant sent the students to the waiting room. After a twenty minutes wait, the pain in Olsen's side was so unbearable that he vomited. Garcia was concerned about his classmate's situation, and asked a person for a wheelchair, but they had only two chairs for the emergency room. Right away Garcia knocked on the door of one of the doctor's rooms for help, in which four doctors were laughing and talking about their lunch. Right before the words came out of Garcia's mouth, they shut the door in his face. By this time, Olsen's body was doubled-over by the pain and tears were coming out of his eyes. While Garcia looked for help, Brandt and Bretzmann encouraged Olsen, saying, “Erik, everything is going to be okay. You are doing a good job.”

In a desperate act, Garcia dragged his friend inside the doctor's room cutting some people that were already in line. Doctor Marcela Bonavina applied the I.V. in Olsen's arm and the pain started to subside. The results confirmed a kidney infection and after four hours at the hospital the Concordia students finished the paperwork and headed back to join their fellow students at Milonga Hostel, where the group was staying during their time in Buenos Aires.

Later on Olsen said, “I'm glad that the pain is gone and I'm back with my friends” He also agreed that the hospital needs to be more accurate in order to be more efficient and provide specialized attention to the patients on the emergency room. “I thank Rebecca, Sam, David, and all the people at the hospital for their attention because if it wasn't for them I would not be here."