Honoring Presnel: A fund for his widow and four children

( SADDLY PRESNEL PASSED AWAY PEACEFULLY LAST SATURDAY, OUR PRAYERS ARE WITH HIS WIDOW IVVONE AND HIS FOUR CHILDREN. ANY FURTHER DONATIONS WILL GO TO SUPPORT HIS FAMILY. PLEASE SEE UPDATE )

Help Presnel Get Lifesaving Cancer Treatment

After four years of fighting cancer in Haiti, Presnel now urgently needs radiotherapy in the Dominican Republic to treat a large tumor on his neck/head. Please help us provide him with the treatment he needs to survive.

Presnel is a survivor, like so many other resilient Haitians. In these difficult times in Haiti it is the least we can do to alleviate suffering for Presnel, his wife and their four children.

Presnel, whose full name is Jean Fritz Dieu, is a beloved member of the community in Ile-à-Vache, a small island off the south coast of Haiti where FH4H has sponsored a community school for 135 children for the last 12 years.

Presnel underwent successful radiation therapy in the Dominican Republic four years ago. Sadly, the cancer has returned, but his doctor is optimistic that a new round of treatment can significantly extend his life.

Due to the country’s security crisis, Haiti currently has no radiotherapy clinics open, so this week we obtained a special humanitarian visa for him to travel to a clinic in Santiago, in the north of the Dominican Republic. The border between the two countries is closed to regular traffic and we are extremely grateful to the Dominican embassy for agreeing to give Presnel (and his wife) a so-called ‘salvoconducto’.

Campaign Story

In 2021, while helping build a library and art center for children on the island of Ile-à-Vache, Haiti, Presnel received devastating news—he had a large tumor rapidly growing on his neck. It was bleeding, infected, and nearing the size of a football.

Presnel, was later diagnosed with aggressive head and neck cancer (undifferentiated carcinoma). Against all odds, with the help of generous supporters, he underwent chemotherapy in Haiti, followed by radiation treatment in the Dominican Republic. Thanks to these efforts, he recovered and was able to return home to his family, full of hope.

Presnel makes the dangerous journey every 21 days from Ile-à-Vache to Port-au-Prince for chemotherapy, navigating roads controlled by gangs on the back of a motorbike, just to stay alive. Through it all, he remains full of faith, attending mass every Sunday to pray for healing and to thank those helping him fight.

But this fight isn’t over

One year ago, Presnel’s cancer returned behind his right ear. Since then, he’s received multiple rounds of chemotherapy but the tumor has only partially responded. Now, he urgently needs External Radiation Therapy—the only option left to control his tumor, reduce his pain and improve his quality of life.

Thanks to the support of a resilient Haitian oncologist, Dr. Joseph Bernard in Port-au-Prince, we’ve been connected with Clinica SESAHD, a private hospital in Santiago, Dominican Republic. Its Haitian-born director, Dr. Oriol Jean Baptiste Sainvil, has graciously offered to welcome Presnel and coordinate his care.

We need your help to cover the cost of his treatment

• Medical consultations: $300

• Pre-radiotherapy tests (CT Scan, bloodwork): $700

• 20 sessions of External Radiation (IMRT): $8,915

• Wound care for 2 months: $1,860

• Airfare from Les Cayes to Cap Haitian: $240 x2 = $480

• Ambulance from the border to Satiago: $500

• Accommodation for 2 months: $1,100 x 2 = $2,200

• Transport to/from treatment: $440

Total Goal: $15,395

Your donation—big or small—will help provide Presnel with comfort, relief, and a fighting chance. Please share this campaign widely. Let’s get Presnel the treatment he urgently needs.

From the bottom of our hearts, thank you.

—Ines & the Flying High 4 Haiti Team

Flying High 4 Haiti is a registered 501(c)(3) organization that has been officially recognized by the IRS as a public charity. It has been operating in the south of Haiti since 2012, funding a local community school for 135 children in Ile-a-Vache.

www.flyinghigh4haiti.org