Traffic Accident Survivor Travels the Difficult Road to Recovery

Sok Try, a 49-year-old father from Phnom Penh, is one of the nearly 6,000 Cambodians injured in traffic accidents each year. Try works as a moto-taxi driver, picking up customers on the back of his motorbike and taking them wherever they need to go. It doesn't pay much, but occasionally he can make up to $5 per day. This past July, Try was dropping off a passenger on his motorbike when a reckless driver slammed into him. According to the latest government statistics, 30% of Cambodians involved in traffic accidents die, and over 75% of these fatalities are on motorbikes. Luckily, Try and his passenger survived. But his troubles had only just begun.

Immediately after Try's accident, he was rushed to a government hospital where he received surgery for a broken leg. After five (5) days in the Hospital costing him a total of $500, Try ran out of money, and he was promptly discharged. Try then came to the Sihanouk Hospital Center of Hope (SHCH), where he was provided with all available treatment. Unfortunately, Try required a specialist orthopedic surgery that is only available at a nearby private clinic. Try's extended family managed to scrape together $1,000 to cover the surgery cost, but while at the private clinic, Try contracted a bloodstream infection. He quickly came back to SHCH to receive a follow-up.

Like many of our patients with poor baseline health, including under-nutrition and inadequate living conditions, Try experienced many setbacks during his recovery –infections, poor healing and three repeat admissions to SHCH. Try's current (and final!) admission has lasted nearly a month, but he is finally ready to go home, fully healed.

As a moto-taxi driver, Try understands how serious traffic accidents can be. He expressed his thanks to SHCH for providing a place for him to recover. "Without this hospital, I could have lost my leg," he told us. "I came here because I want to go back to work and support my family." We are proud to have supported Try to do just that – soon, he'll be back at work, supporting his family again. With your continued assistance, SHCH will continue to heal patients like Try.