By Lorenzo W. Snelling
North Miami Mayor Alix Desulme is alert and in good spirits following a medical emergency that forced him to leave his trip to Africa on Sunday and be transported to Washington D.C. for treatment, his office said.
Desulme was part of a South Florida Delegation of elected officials visiting Africa when he apparently fell ill in Sierra Leone and had to leave the country following the health scare.
He was flown to JFK Airport in New York and then to a hospital in Washington D.C. for treatment by a specialist.
His office didn’t reveal the medical emergency but said he’s alert and in good spirits.
“Mayor Desulme would like to thank members of the joint Miami-Dade, North Miami, Miramar, and North Lauderdale Delegation that assisted him during the medical incident.” the statement said. “He would also like to thank the Government of Sierra Leone and the United States Embassy who quickly arranged for his departure to the U.S. for medical treatment.”
Reports suggested Desulme was feeling fine before the trip to Africa.
No word on if he has any underlying conditions that could have caused the medical emergency.
North Miami Councilman Scott Galvin, who was on the trip, told reporters that Desulme reportedly passed out while having dinner with officials from Sierra Leone and Nigeria.
“It was very scary. You’re in a foreign country,” Galvin 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.”
Desulme’s office didn’t offer when the mayor will return to South Florida.
Desulme was selected to serve as the mayor for North Miami on December 13, 2002.
He was first elected to office in 2009 in a city-wide election, making history as the first Black city clerk of the City of North Miami, the youngest and first Haitian-American elected city clerk in the U.S..
Desulme was then elected to the North Miami City Council representing District 4.
The following year he became the youngest Councilman to serve as the Vice-Mayor for the city of North Miami, Florida (2016-2017), and won re-election in 2019.
According to North Miami City Clerk office, Desulme is not listed as a candidate running for reelection in 2024.
So far, mayoral candidates include former State Senator Daphne Campbell, entrepreneur Naomi Esther Blemur, who was a 2022 candidate for Florida Agriculture Commissioner and retired doctor Hector Medina.
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