By Lorenzo W. Snelling
North Miami Mayor Alix Desulme, who’s trip to Africa was cut short due to a medical emergency and flown to John Hopkins Hospital near Washington D.C. for treatment, said the experience was the “scariest moment of my life.”
Desulme told the Miami Herald after he returned to South Florida that he suffered seizure-like symptoms during dinner and fainted.
Desulme was part of a South Florida Delegation of elected officials visiting Africa when he fell ill in Sierra Leone and had to leave the country following the health scare for emergency treatment.
The trip, which cost $4,500 each person to visit four countries, was part of North Miami’s Sister Cities program and Desulme was joined on the trip by Vice Mayor Mary Estime-Irvin, council members Scott Galvin and Pierre Frantz Charles and two North Miami staffers.
Government officials from Miami-Dade, Miramar and North Lauderdale were also on the trip.
Desulme said once he fainted, two elected officials from North Lauderdale rushed to his aid.
Desulme said people in the room thought the worst.
“They thought I was dead,” he told the Herald.
Desulme said he suffers from insomnia and took medication the night before but the medicine was ineffective and he felt tired the next day.
Just before he was set to meet the Sierra Leone president at the dinner he had fainted.
In a released statement following his return to South Florida, Desulem said he’s following his doctor’s orders and resting.
He expressed his “heartfelt” gratitude for the outpouring of love, prayers, calls and texts he received while he’s recovering.
“Your support has been a source of immense comfort and strength for me,” he said. “While I may not be able to respond to each message individually right now, I deeply appreciate your well wishes and caring words. I am following my doctor’s orders, resting, and taking the necessary steps toward recovery.”
Desulme also thanked Dr. Amisha Vallabh and her team from AMI Sierra Leone in Sierra Leone, Africa, and the medical team at Sibley Memorial Hospital and John Hopkins Medicine, where he’s treated by specialists for “their swift action and expert care.”
Galvin told reporters that Desulme passing out while having dinner with officials from Sierra Leone and Nigeria scared everyone in the room.
“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 was selected to serve as the mayor for North Miami on December 13, 2022.
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 the 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.
