In case you haven't heard of us, SOS Las Tumbas provides free emergency first aid to the people of the rural mountain-jungle villages around us. In our remote area, despite their best efforts, it can take up to several hours for an ambulance to arrive, but We can be there within minutes. We're carefully trained by the Red Cross, and keep our certifications up-to-date. Since we first started in August of 2019, we have responded to 226 calls. You can follow our adventures in Facebook, under SOS Las Tumbas.

Many people have asked how they can help our SOS financially (thank you❤️). We always say, "Wait til we run a campaign." Well, my dear friends, funds are running low and we are running a campaign. Every little bit counts! All donations will be used to cover new trainings and new equipment. We have some big expenses coming up.

Don't feel obligated to donate, as your positive vibes and emotional support mean more to us than you know. But please share this fundraiser!

I've posted this before, but for those who haven't read it, here's how SOS Las Tumbas got started. It’s a long story, but well worth reading.

For me, it all started with Nancy Kruel and her husband, James. When a minor acquaintance went over a 45-foot waterfall and was seriously wounded, Nancy had her transported by ambulance to a hospital in San José. She stayed in a nearby hotel to make daily visits to this terrified Canadian until Nancy could arrange a medical transport for her back to Canada. I remember thinking, WHO DOES THAT?

They rehomed numerous abandoned animals and ended up with no less than five dogs that couldn't be placed.

When my husband contracted a denge-ish tropical disease a doctor told me she didn't think he'd make it through the night. I tried to hire an ambulance to transfer him to San José but, being a Sunday, there were none available. Frantically, I called Nancy and James, knowing they had helped this other woman, and maybe had a contact that could help us get an ambulance.

They didn't just make suggestions. They Showed Up 30 minutes later, took one look at the both of us and said, “Come on, we're taking you to San José.” It was a 4-hour drive done in 3. James drove us, and Nancy followed in our car.

I was freezing in the frigid hospital temperatures with only my shorts and tank top; Nancy bought me warm clothes at a Ropa Americana. They got a room and stayed for four days until Gary finally took a turn for the better. Once Again, I thought to myself WHO DOES THAT?

One day, a year later, Nancy went missing. Police were called. They informed us that they would keep an eye out, but we needed to do the real boots-on-the-ground searching. Horrified, we all went looking for her. Not knowing where she could have gone, our search radius went all the way from San Isidro to San Juan de Dios. Hours passed.

As it turned out, she’d heard of a little dog that was left abandoned on a remote jungle road. Her owners had dumped her off, with only a blanket for comfort, to which the little orphan clung faithfully for days waiting hopefully for them to pick her back up. She was starving; her ribs stuck out like empty coat hangers. Her trembly body was riddled with torsalos. As soon as Nancy heard about her, she went on one of her famous pet rescue missions to find her, and find her she did.

It was a one-lane road. Unfortunately, when she tried to do a Y-turn to turn her truck around, she backed through some hanging vines that disguised a 300-foot drop-off. Nancy, the little dog, and the truck ricocheted off tree after tree until the car reached the bottom, crushed and upside down.

After hours of fruitless searching, we narrowed it down to somewhere around San Juan de Dios. By now it was nighttime. Suspicious tracks and a break in the fencing were spied beside a back road. The searcher parted the vines and peered down into the murk, his strong flashlight revealing the crumpled vehicle far below.

The fire department, police, and Red Cross ambulance were immediately given the new information and all of us rushed to the site. Several friends rappelled down to her. "She's alive and talking!" came the glad shouts.

Before arriving, the fire truck blew out two tires on the rough road, and was beached like a stranded whale. Gary and I found it and transported the equipment and firefighters to the rescue scene. With that equipment, Nancy was immobilized and placed in a special rescue basket.

Together, under the direction of the firemen, we all pulled her up the slope on long ropes. She insisted someone bring the little dog up. That little dog had stayed by her side and comforted her for what was now 12 hours spent in the car in the steaming jungle. It was midnight.

This experience was an AHAH moment. All of us realized that, when these things happen, it’s On Us. Help is not Here and Near, unless it Be Us. For me, I realized that I wanted to follow in Nancy’s footsteps and vowed to figure out some way to do it.

Nancy and James were transported to a hospital in San José. Gary and I dropped off the little dog at a vet in San Isidro and then joined James at the hospital in San José. It was our turn to answer, WHO DOES THAT? We were with him when Nancy passed away 5 days later, despite heroic efforts to save her. But her death was not in vain.

Out of her death, SOS Platanillo was born. The goal was to create a first responder first aid service, free to all, by collaborating with the Red Cross (which manages all the public ambulances in Costa Rica). When there is an accident or medical emergency, SOS volunteers rush to the site and stabilize the patient until the ambulance arrives.

In the meantime, Gary and I lived in a village up the highway from Platanillo, too far away to cover that area. One day, Shannon Moran, a good friend, and young mother, was struck by a motorcycle in a hit-and-run while walking home from our house. Her body was flung 3 meters down into a creek, and quickly disguised by the thick vegetation above. Thankfully, some people in the plaza had seen what happened and hurried to pull her out. She asked that Gary and I be called and we rushed over immediately.

Nobody knew what to do. I remember asking, “Shouldn’t we have her lie down or something?” And I thought to myself over and over again, ‘This must NEVER, EVER happen again...' you know, where someone is hurt and nobody knows what to do. An ambulance was called but being in a remote area, considerable time was lost waiting for its arrival. We finally put her in our car (NOT the thing to do) to take her to the hospital. We soon met up with the ambulance and the Red Crossers surged into action, doing all the Right Things.

Once Shannon got to the hospital, it was discovered that she had broken her back in 3 places. The initial lack of proper first aid could have left her paralyzed; It’s a miracle that she wasn’t.

Both Ticos and Foreigners joined together to pool money and resources to hire a full-time nurse and to send her two little boys back to the States to be cared for by her mother and sister while she recovered. I’m overjoyed to tell you that Shannon survived her ordeal and is back running her own business, with her two young boys at home.

And just like that, SOS Las Tumbas was born. We worked hard to raise our own money to pay for equipment and on-going training.

Out of these two tragedies was born something unimaginably wonderful: SOS Platanillo and SOS Las Tumbas. Now there Is qualified help Here and Near to stabilize patients until the ambulance arrives. We have the Right Stuff: stretchers, first aid kits, splints, towels and blankets, vital sign machines, toys for children, oxygen equipment, a defibrillator and volunteers with hearts of gold, who give up their time to train and practice regularly so that everyone can get the help they need within minutes. We are not doctors; we are not nurses; we are just volunteers who take their training very seriously.

And what happened to the little dog that Nancy saved? I’m happy to say that after a week at the vet’s hospital, she came home with us and became our own precious little dog. She's the smaller dog in the group photo (Team member not pictured: Rafa Solano).

So next time you wonder, WHO DOES THAT? Well, now you know.

We depend on donations and people sharing our story. If you can give, great. If you can't, just sharing makes a HUGE difference. Thanks for reading!