‘It was scary:’ North Miami mayor recovering after medical emergency during Africa visit

Grethel Aguila, Raisa Habersham
·2 min read
3

North Miami Mayor Alix Desulme is recovering from a medical emergency at a Washington D.C. hospital days after a visit in Sierra Leone with other South Florida elected officials, his chief of staff confirmed.

The mayor was part of a joint delegation of South Florida officials visiting Africa when he passed out Friday during dinner with officials from Sierra Leone and Nigeria, said North Miami Councilman Scott Galvin, who was on the trip.

“It was very scary. You’re in a foreign country,” he said. “There was fear in the room. It’s not like in the States, where we pick up the phone and they call 911. So there was chaos. It was scary.”

Within 10 minutes of him fainting, Galvin said Desulme was alert and taken to the hospital.

Misty Brown, Desulme’s chief of staff, declined to go into details about the incident but said, “It was something that required immediate medical attention, which we sought in Sierra Leone during our visit at a hospital there,” she told the Herald.

Brown did not disclose which hospital Desulme is receiving treatment. He had a “full work up” — a thorough examination which includes laboratory work and X-rays — and other tests are expected later, Brown said. It is not known when he will return to South Florida.

“He is already talking, and his phone has been taken from him so he won’t over talk,” Brown said, adding that the mayor is doing well and was great on the plane before leaving the country. “He was walking, talking, laughing and in good spirits.”

Still, Desulme’s illness remains “unexplained,” spokesperson Brian Andrews said.

“He’s never experienced a reaction like this in his life,” Andrews told the Herald. “But it was significant enough that the medical authorities in Sierra Leone recommended he get back stateside and get checked out by a specialist, and he is heeding the warning of those medical professionals.”

In his statement, Desulme thanked officials from the Miami-Dade, North Miami, Miramar and North Lauderdale delegation who assisted him during the medical incident. He also recognized Sierra Leone’s government and the U.S. Embassy for quickly arranging his departure.