AI-generated image distorts death of Haitian woman, obscuring rural health care crisis 

PORT-DE-PAIX —  An AI-generated image circulating on social media after the death of a 32-year-old pregnant woman from Mare-Rouge, Môle Saint-Nicolas has distorted the circumstances of her death, diverting attention from serious concerns about the condition of emergency medical services in Haiti’s Northwest region.

Salanda Thermitus died Aug. 12 while being transported from Môle-Saint-Nicolas’ Life Medical Clinic to Béraca Hospital in Pointe-des-Palmistes— a 46-mile journey. Her older sister, Betty Thermitus, said she was only about three months pregnant and had become ill from a condition unrelated to her pregnancy.

“At only about three months pregnant, my sister was not yet ready to give birth to her baby,” the older Thermitus sister told The Haitian Times. “Her death occurred after she experienced a simple bout of illness, which left me deeply devastated.”

But a fabricated image that breaks the news depicts a heavily pregnant woman sitting on a roadside rock while several men attempt to dig an ambulance out of deep mud. It suggests a dramatic rescue scene that did not occur as depicted.

The image illustrates how artificial intelligence can add false details to real tragedies, making an already painful event more emotionally compelling while obscuring the actual problems surrounding it.

For residents of Haiti’s rural Northwest, those problems include limited access to emergency medical care, poorly maintained ambulances, shortages of medical personnel and difficult road conditions.

A real tragedy, surrounded by false details

Thermitus was initially treated at Life Clinique Médicale, directed by Dr. Edgar Dénoît, before being transferred to Béraca Hospital in La Pointe-des-Palmistes for further medical care when the ambulance transporting her experienced a tire problem.

Salanda died on her way to the hospital. 

Emayson Fraël, Thermitus’ nephew, said the tragedy has raised questions about the condition of emergency medical services in the region.

“This tragedy has affected my entire family,” Fraël said. 

“My aunt should not have died if adequate health care conditions had been in place here [Mare-Rouge]. It outrages me that an ambulance issue was at the root of this loss. This is the responsibility of the state,” he added.

But accounts from Thermitus’s family members who were with her and the ambulance driver complicate any simple conclusion that the tire problem directly caused Thermitus’ death. They disputed the AI depiction of the event.

According to the driver, the vehicle was not buried in mud. Dieubon Salomon, who works for Haiti’s National Ambulance Center (CAN, its French acronym), said the ambulance stopped for less than an hour while a flat tire was repaired.

Salomon said the ambulance stopped for less than an hour to repair a flat tire. After the repair, the vehicle continued toward the hospital.

“The vehicle had been repaired, and as we continued on our way, the patient’s sister asked me to stop and check on her condition, which had worsened,” Salomon said. “It was at that point that we realized she had unfortunately passed away.”

Salomon said no nurse or other medical professional accompanied Thermitus during the trip.

The driver’s account does not establish that the tire problem caused her death. It does, however, raise questions about the resources available to emergency medical crews serving remote communities.

“State authorities must provide emergency services with adequate logistical resources,” Salomon said in an interview with The Haitian Times. “Ambulances should always be kept in good working condition so they can respond to patients facing critical medical emergencies.”

But the AI image changed the story

The AI-generated image added several elements that were not supported by the accounts of people directly involved in Thermitus’ final journey.

It portrayed Thermitus as near the end of her pregnancy, suggesting she died of labor complications because the ambulance was stuck on bad roads.

It also showed an ambulance apparently trapped deep in mud, with men attempting to free it. Salomon said the ambulance briefly stopped because of a flat tire and was repaired within minutes.

The fabricated image of a visibly pregnant woman stranded beside a buried ambulance creates an immediate narrative of a catastrophic medical evacuation. Social media viewers concluded that a pregnant woman died because rescuers could not free an ambulance. 

The false version obscures the real questions raised by Thermitus’ death: whether the ambulance was adequately maintained, why no medical professional accompanied her, what emergency services are available in Mare-Rouge, and how road conditions affect emergency transportation.

A rural health care system under pressure

Mare-Rouge is a rural community like any other, especially in the lower Northwest Department, where residents often face long journeys when they need specialized or emergency medical care.

Health facilities in the region serve communities including Môle-Saint-Nicolas, Jean-Rabel, Bombardopolis and Baie-de-Henne. But residents have raised concerns about shortages of equipment, qualified medical personnel and emergency transportation.

Poor roads can further complicate medical evacuations.

“If the roads are in such poor condition that transporting patients becomes dangerous and difficult, that is another failure on the part of the state,” Salomon said.

“And when all these problems come together, it is the people who pay the price — sometimes with their lives,” he added.

The broader challenge is not unique to the Northwest. Haiti’s health care system has faced severe disruptions from insecurity, shortages and restricted access to medical facilities. In August, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) again suspended operations at the Isaïe Jeanty Maternity Hospital in Cité Soleil after renewed gang clashes, depriving thousands of women of reproductive health care in an area where access was already extremely limited.

For rural residents, the barriers are different but can be equally consequential: distance, road conditions, transportation and the availability of trained medical personnel and specialists.

Naïsson Charles, a Mare-Rouge resident, said Thermitus’ death should prompt questions about the broader health care system.

“As a citizen who is deeply involved in the Northwest Department, Salanda Thermitus’ death deeply affects my conscience,” Charles said. “Behind such a loss is a family plunged into grief, but also many questions that the state and those responsible for the health care system must answer.”

Charles said emergency transportation and road conditions remain serious concerns.

Weslet Nelson, 36, also concurred, saying the tragedy should also prompt authorities to improve access to reliable and adequate public health services.

Thermitus’ funeral was held on Aug. 17. She leaves behind a 10-year-old son, her husband, nine brothers and sisters and other relatives.

“We cannot hold anyone or any authority responsible for my sister’s death,” the older Thermitus sister said. “It is something that can happen.

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