Haiti native living in Yonkers heads home to deliver supplies to earthquake victims

A Westchester man is giving back to the place he once called home by delivering lifesaving medical supplies to Haiti.

The earthquake in Haiti has launched an international emergency response. For one Westchester man, rebuilding the island nation is personal.

Haitian-born Samson Desamour is a volunteer with the Yonkers-based foundation, AFYA.

Since Tuesday, he has been back home to the hardest-hit parts of the island, bringing with him PPE, wound care supplies and IV starter kits.

"We have to remember where we came from because that's what makes us who we are,” he says.

More than 2,100 people have died, over 12,000 people have been injured, and at least 300 are still missing after the 7.2 magnitude earthquake on Saturday.

Desamour says this has all pushed the country's medical system to the brink.

"They are sending patients outside because they don't have the capacity to really take care of them,” he says.

In total, AFYA and its team of volunteers have collected, shipped and delivered nearly $150,000 worth of supplies.

"There are so many lives that need to be saved, but if we just think about it one life at a time, and together we can do good things,” Desamour says.

AFYA plans to continue sending volunteers to Haiti until their help is no longer needed. The organization is now delivering a 1,600-square-foot tent to be used as a temporary hospital in Aquin where patients are currently being treated outside with no shelter.