Mysterious Illness May Have Killed Local Nurse In Haiti

KIRO 7 is learning about a mysterious and deadly illness that made a local crew of volunteers very sick while they treated orphans in Haiti.

It appears the illness also led to the sudden death of a volunteer E.R. nurse from Renton while he worked in Haiti with Medical Teams International.

By all accounts, 36-year-old Matthew Bouthillier -- who also worked as an E.R. nurse at Swedish Medical Center in Issaquah -- was perfectly healthy when he spoke with a KIRO 7 Eyewitness News crew 11 days ago as he was leaving Seattle for Haiti.

"You know, being part of something big by doing something small -- I think everybody in their own little way is trying to get back to a great cause here," Bouthillier said on Feb. 20.

Sunday night, Bouthillier e-mailed friends about helping injured Haitian orphans in remote areas. The next day, Bouthillier suddenly became very sick, and within the next few hours, he was dead.

"It's very hard to lose Matthew," said Dale Bouthillier, his mother.

Dale Bouthillier, a nurse herself, wants answers because she's been told Matthew wasn't the only one on his team fighting the same-sudden illness in Haiti.

"The news that we have gotten is that many members of the team that went down caught some kind of a disease," she said.

She said eight of the 12 Medical Teams International crewmembers including Bouthillier were very sick. Doctors tell Matthew's family he died of heart arrhythmia after 40 minutes of C.P.R. Bouthillier's family said he had no previous history of heart or health problems.

So what caused Matthew's crew to become so sick? Medical Teams International is offering to pay for his autopsy to find out.

Matthew Bouthillier leaves behind his wife, who is also a nurse. He was the father of two little boys.

His family asks that as a memorial, people donate to Medical Teams International.

The president of Medical Teams International said other volunteers have been warned about the illness but that every team member decided helping is worth the risk.