Deciding who to save in the 2005 Pakistan earthquake was heartbreaking. We couldn’t reach microscopic Ama in timeIt felt like the beginning of Mission Impossible 2. I was rock climbing with my oldest son when my phone rang. It was my team leader,telling me there had been a serious earthquake in Pakistan. I confirmed I was available to assist in the search and rescue of survivors.
It was October 2005. We arrived in Pakistan next morning and spent the rest of the day travelling 121km by road to Muzaffarabad, a town in the north of the country close to the epicentre of the quake. Our first job was to search a local boarding school. Most of the children were asleep in their dormitories when the quake struck and seeing all those small shapes, or covered in white sheets laid out in rows,will stay with me forever. We started searching what was left of the buildings for survivors, but it became clear that those who survived were already out. We finished clearing the buildings without finding anyone. Related: The public services you didn't know were run by charities Related: We spent 800 hours searching rivers for a stranger's body Related: Search and rescue volunteers lost in budget cuts Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com