Billy Davis‘ passion for improving quality of life and land development came across Dr. Gordon Chiu’s quest on the fountain of youth and longevity… Fate brought the great minds together through Billy’s son – Todd Davis – onto the Rum Cay Island. Dr. Chiu had searched the Caribbean seeking a place to conduct a firsthand study of the plant life found on an island, and Rum Cay was an ideal location to find a wealth of natural wild life and vegetation sources that could potentially be used for health, beauty, and survival living research.
Billy Davis offered to fly Dr. Chiu and his assistant Teresa to Rum Cay personally and to show them the beautiful beaches and natural beauty of the island. Upon first arrival, Dr. Chiu stated that he noticed the air on Rum Cay was substantially cleaner than his departure locations of Ft. Lauderdale and Nassau. Many believe the salt in the Rum Cay air attributes to its freshness. As a young scientist more than ten years ago, Dr. Chiu’s had done studies on salt water crops which can also be applied on the abundant and rich plantations on the island.
Under Billy’s arrangement, locals, Bill Shumacher and Kathy Smith housed Dr. Chiu in their beautiful beach front home that they once built with their own hands for the duration of their visit. The Shumacher couple, Bill at age of 75 and Kathy in her 60’s, who sailed around the world together, decided to become residents of Rum Cay when they set foot on the island 20 years ago.
Dr. Chiu and Teresa conducted a two week study on the island of the numerous plants and vegetation that grow wild in the bush. The study included sea life, fish, fruits and plant life with characteristics that could be extracted to create healthy living products. Dr. Chiu marveled over the large quantity of wild plants that can be found on Rum Cay which can be used for health and medicine, including one natural plant that he claims, the oil when refined, is worth over $1,000 per ounce. Because of Rum Cay’s private and desolate temperament, “there is an untapped reservoir of healing and natural vegetation and medicine found. Plants are uncategorized and not fully researched, and this island has an abundance of rumored medical plants that can save your life”.
During their stay, all of the local Rumcayan’s were extremely cooperative and have contributed to the Doctor’s research. Delores Wilson, a life-long resident and business owner of Kay’s Bar in Port Nelson began eagerly comparing plants and knowledge of Bahamian Bush medicine and sharing historical information about Rum Cay, and their families and ancestors. Dr. Chiu remarked to Billy Davis that he may be doing research for a book that would include Rum Cay and its historical background about Caribbean living.
The local citizens of Rum Cay also enjoyed taking Dr. Chiu and Teresa fishing. One of their fondest moments was when Roberto, a local Rumcayan father, drove the boat with one hand, held a cigarette and a fish line with the other, and stopped the boat every minute to pull in a fish line with a big fish on the hook!
There is an enormous overlooked significance of the study of plant life on an uninhabited island. The minimally researched plantation used by the Rumcayan medicine men and women could hold the key to unlocking cures as well as opening doors to substantial new research in the fields of health and medicine. The locals who live on the island of Rum Cay have never needed traditional medicine for colds or headaches, but instead extracted remedies from the local ferns, shrubs and evergreens. Through an interview with Maddy, a local medicine woman, Dr. Chiu estimates that she has saved close to $80,000 US in medication from the many years of using the local plants. Through proper research and characterization of the plant life and bush medicine, Dr. Chiu believes that Rum Cay has an untapped potential to develop cures to some of humanities deadliest diseases.
An example of a wild vegetation, Noni Fruit, which was been characterized to be native in south Pacific areas, was found in pristine quality and abundance on the island. Noni fruit has properties to inhibit cancer causing cells such as p56lck, and has other anti cancer benefits. The accessibility of the fruit in its raw form in Rum Cay’s protected environment is very promising to the future of preventative cancer research. Other cases include a shrubbery that has been used to treat sore throat and rhinoviruses. The oil from another bay shrub is excellent for the healing of the herpes virus causing cold sores and the class of rhinovirus causing colds.
 A wild coconut found on Rum Cay |
 A wild plant found on Rum Cay |
In the past few years, Dr. Chiu has visited over 42 different locations in the world searching for these habitats of untapped natural resources to conduct his research. These locations on our planet are becoming few and far between, however Rum Cay provides an excellent untapped resource for potential natural health and medical research.
About Billy Davis
Billy Davis was a two-term Arizona State Senator with decades of international connections. Today, he is a developer of land for luxury homes on Rum Cay, Bahamas as well as a charitable hurricane relief coordinator in the Bahamas. For more information, visit: http://www.billydavis.com
About Dr. Gordon Chiu
Dr. Gordon Chiu is an international health, beauty and skin consultant. His publications in aesthetics, science and wellness have been distributed in over 8 different countries. Recently, he served as a research scientist at both Merck and Pfizer where his contributions led to a patent and also a publication on drug discovery.
Gordon Chiu received his Bachelors of Science (Summa Cum Laude) in Chemistry at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1996. During his studies Gordon was a Howard Hughes Medical Fellowship Recipient and worked with Pfizer’s Drug Discovery team to generate a Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Protease Inhibitor Library. In 1997, Gordon joined Merck & Co and a year later, he pursued his Masters through The Merck Graduate School Scholars Program with Seton Hall University. In 1999, he received his Masters of Science in Chemistry (Summa Cum Laude). In June 2001, Gordon was the recipient of the M.D./PhD. Fellowship and his academic scholarship was awarded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP). For more information, visit: http://www.gordonyourself.com
About Rum Cay
Rum Cay, first known as Mamana by the Lucayan Indians, is a small, sparsely populated island, located 20 miles southwest of San Salvador, and 185 miles southeast of Nassau (Lat. N23 42’ 30” – Long. W74 50’ 00”). It is approximately 30 Sq. miles in size, 9.5 miles long by 5 miles wide, and mainly flat, but has a few rolling hills rising to about 130 feet. Settled by Loyalist planters during the 18th century, Rum Cay was once famous for salt and pineapples. Today, Rum Cay has a population of approx. 100, nearly everybody lives in Port Nelson where cottages can be rented. For more information, visit: http://www.rumcaybahamas.com