Freeport doctor treats injured in Haiti (PHOTOS)

The earthquake disaster in Haiti has become an up-close reality for one local physican.

Tom McKnight, a family doctor at the Hurlburt Field clinic and a retired Air Force colonel, arrived in Port-au-Prince Sunday with a team of medical personnel and volunteers working with Heartline Ministries, a Haiti-based group that runs orphanages in the capital city.

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Click here to read about Dr. Tom McKnight's work in Haiti

"They are located west of Port-au-Prince," said Steve Hall, a friend of McKnight's who helped him raise cash and gather medical supplies to take to Haiti. "Basically, it's an orphanage where they've set up a field hospital.

McKnight, who is from Freeport, has been treating a steady flow of injured children and adults, from those with minor cuts to those who require major surgery, according to the Haiti Blog at www.heartlineministries.org.

"The thing he keeps mentioning in every e-mail is ... the character of the Haitian people, their dignity," Hall said. "They have to be in  just stunning pain and they're just quietly waiting in line."

Hall said McKnight is asking for supporters to continue to donate money for relief efforts.

"He just e-mailed today, and the cost of diesel and medical supplies has just gone crazy," he said. "They're trying to keep their generator running."

Hall said McKnight, who has participated in many medical missions to Haiti through the years, has two adopted Haitian children.

"Tom was made for this moment," Hall said. "He's like an arrow that's been sharpened up for this target."

Hall and McKnight became friends as members of First United Methodist Church in Niceville where they are part of a men's accountability group that meets weekly for breakfast at Waffle House in Bluewater Bay.

"They're my best friends," Hall said. "It's one of those groups where we just try to keep each other straight."

Hall said McKnight turned to the group for help in raising $10,000 in cash - the most you can take into the country - and collecting medical supplies to take to Haiti.

"He said, 'Look, I need small bills!'" Hall said. "We got everything from beef jerky and power bars to I.V. drips and surgical gowns and gloves to suture kits. It was field hospital stuff."

Hall said he has been astounded by the donations from the Niceville community and other areas along the Emerald Coast.

"You wouldn't believe the generosity," he said. "People have a pent-up need to help. Thy look at (the earthquake victims) and they feel helpless."