Football legend Tim Tebow and his foundation partnered with a nonprofit team of veteran commandos to evacuate dozens of disabled orphans from Haiti, but thousands remain in trouble. remains confined to an island nation.
The operation comes as the beleaguered country faces danger and hunger following the release of thousands of prisoners by gangsters and the sudden resignation of its prime minister. Tebow has long been known for his philanthropic work in conflict countries, and in 2021 worked with the Sentinel Foundation, which helped evacuate Americans from Afghanistan and safely evacuated children in Jamaica.
“We’re so grateful for today,” said a Tim Tebow Foundation official, who gave his first name only as Steve, about the surgery. “We would like to thank the Jamaican Ministry of Health and the Jamaican Ministry of National Security and Foreign Affairs for hosting 59 children with severe disabilities from Haiti who are now being relocated from a dangerous location to a safe and secure new community. I would like to express my deep gratitude to the Ministry.”
The group also praised the work of Rep. Cory Mills, R-Florida, with whom Tebow starred at the University of Florida in the early 2000s.
With Mills’ guidance, the two foundations worked together to provide operational support and funding as Haiti’s crime crisis remains serious. Mr. Mills conducted two additional rescue operations from Haiti.
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“I’m always happy to provide support and resources to organizations like this. They’re not just allies, they’re brothers,” Mills said of working with the foundation. “Their mission to bring vulnerable people home is something I wholeheartedly support.”
Austin Holmes, Sentinel’s director of operations, told Fox News Digital that the changing situation has made it difficult to plan operations using land, air and sea methods.
59 One of the main waiting areas for disabled people, many of whom are bathed by their caregivers. (Sentinel Foundation)
“Perhaps the biggest obstacle to our mission was the rapidly changing and tightening regulations from host countries such as the United States and the Dominican Republic,” Sentinel Operations Director Austin Holmes said of the operation. Told.
“We understand what they are trying to protect, but when you effectively exclude the private sector, which is much quicker and often more entrepreneurial in its response and capacity, it reduces the level of care. and reduce the number of people receiving services,” Holmes added. . “This remains a major obstacle in the humanitarian crisis facing Haiti.”
Miles Humphas and patients with disabilities being processed by the Jamaican Ministry of Health. (Sentinel Foundation)
That means still getting the green light from the non-existent Haitian government to meet U.S. diplomatic requirements, Holmes explained.
“Even though the Haitian government does not exist, there are still Haiti-related documents that the U.S. government wants us to provide,” he said.
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Haiti’s crime situation has escalated sharply since Ariel Henry resigned as acting prime minister earlier this month at the request of gangs that are tightening their grip on the country.
Tebow, who won two national championships and one Heisman Trophy while attending the University of Florida, spent three years as an NFL quarterback, primarily with the Denver Broncos. A devout Christian, he has been active in various philanthropic efforts throughout his career, including fighting child trafficking, supporting children with special needs, and helping build medical facilities in poor countries. continues to participate. In 2022, his book “mission possible” of his humanitarian work.
Tebow’s group approached the Sentinel and alerted them to the situation. Sentinel did everything in its power to get the 59 children out of the country, even though they had no idea where they were going, as the Dominican Republic closed some access and limited options. I decided to kick him out.
Sentinel teams approached by land, sea and air to help transport the children out of the country. Sentinel already has at least five other operations planned to rescue people from Haiti, all based on knowledge and experience gained from the latest rescues and extensive experience in rescue operations.
The second half of the team intercepts a ship on its way to pick up Haitian passengers.
Members of the Sentinel team have worked on rescue operations in overseas crises, including rescues from Afghanistan during the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the country. Due to the fluid nature of the operation, teams were forced to rely more on experience than they otherwise would have been and were unable to train in advance of the rescue itself.
“I would say we didn’t do any dry runs. We have members who are trained to do dry runs on a regular basis, or have done it in the military, or at least we have trained them. There are people who are open to talking about things that they want to talk about, whether it’s swimming, medical, or just general operators,” a Sentinel member named TJ told FOX News Digital.
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“But we didn’t know how it would turn out in the field until we tried it,” he said.
The US State Department also evacuated at least 30 Americans from the island nation on government-chartered flights earlier this week after initially being slow to act as the crisis worsened. Officials told Fox News the number may have been as high as 47.
With borders closed and restrictions tightened across Haiti, the team actively worked on dozens of solutions to enter the country. (Sentinel Foundation)
The U.S. government continued to help evacuate more than 230 U.S. citizens from Haiti over the next week.
The State Department said in a statement that it “continues to monitor in real time the demand for U.S. nationals seeking assistance in leaving Haiti,” reiterating that Americans should not travel to Haiti.
Last week, the U.S. military sent additional troops to increase security at the U.S. embassy in Haiti, which is in an area largely controlled by gangs, and evacuate non-essential personnel.
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“There are 30,000 children in Haiti who belong to nonprofit organizations run by American citizens,” TJ said. “Most of them don’t have leadership there right now because everyone had to leave.”
“We were able to safely evacuate 59 out of 30,000 children. Of the 30,000 children, not all of them have a place to go, and not all of them have special needs. “And it’s not a high risk either,” he said. “We chose the highest-risk children we could, the children with the highest chance of success, and we responded accordingly, because we’d rather save some than none.”
