A personal connection to the devastated nation of Haiti helped inspire Karen Creighan to make a sizable donation to the Port-Au-Prince Epilepsy Clinic as it deals with many individuals affected by the massive earthquake. Ms Creighan, owner of Souris Pharmasave, donated $15,000 worth of medication to the clinic, with the needed supplies arriving in Port-Au-Prince last Tuesday among eight hockey bags full of supplies. Ms Creighan's connection to the country began in 2008, when a best friend from Ottawa landed a job with the Canadian Embassy in Haiti. As well, another friend, neurologist Dr Lionel Carmant of Montreal and of Haitian descent, helped establish the epilepsy clinic back in 2008. Ms Creighan went to Haiti in both 2008 and 2009 and had the opportunity to travel around the country and meet some of the people. Her time there included a visit to Jacmel where Governor-General Michaelle Jean is from. Ms. Creighan was deeply affected on a personal level when she saw the images of the devastating earthquake back in January. The 7.0 magnitude quake was estimated to have killed more than 200,000 people.

Karen Creighan, owner of the Souris Pharmasave, made a generous donation of $15,000 worth of medication to the Port-Au-Prince Epilepsy Clinic in Haiti. Staff at the clinic are taking care of numerous people affected with epilepsy and other neurological disorders following January’s devastating earthquake. Many pharmacies were destroyed and medical supplies were needed. Ms Creighan is seen here with artworks made from recycled oil drums by an artisan community in Croix Des Bouquets, Haiti, and which are for sale at the Souris Pharmasave. photo by David MacDonald

"I couldn’t watch the images. It made me cry, I was heartbroken by what I saw," she said. “I had fallen in love with the place and the people. When we travelled around the country, my experience was that it was a beautiful country. There is a lot of poverty there but for the people to survive in the face of what they have to deal with is incredible."

Mr Carmant had contacted Ms Creighan in February to ask if she could contact some of the major drug companies about getting supplies to the clinic.

But Ms Creighan also wanted to give something back to the people of Haiti, so she donated $15,000 worth of medication.

"I really felt compelled to do something substantial. I didn’t want to just give money, I wanted to do something more direct."

Miraculously, neither the staff was harmed or the clinic damaged in the earthquake, despite being located in the same neighbourhood as the Presidential Palace, which was extensively damaged.

Ms Creighan said it was important to get the medications to the people, as many pharmacies were destroyed and necessary drugs for those with epilepsy and other neurological disorders weren’t available.

"It will help a lot of people for a while. It won’t last forever but it’s a good start."

Staff at the Pharmasave was excited about the generous donation.

"We felt really good about it because we knew where it was going and it was exactly what they needed," Ms Creighan said.