Thanks for praying for the earthquake relief in Nepal. Darren was able to be there for two weeks, spending most of his time at Dhulikhel Hospital (where we used to live and work), helping the physios with the inundation of patients from nearby villages. There are triple the normal number of patients in the hospital at the moment. One room has 72… and it wasn’t even a ward before. There are more than 40 spinal cord injuries in the hospital and hundreds of fractures and head injuries. Everyone has the same sort of story – they were sitting inside their house and a concrete wall or roof fell on them and they were trapped inside for hours and many of their family members have died and their villages have been destroyed. It’s heart breaking. The local hospital staff have been amazing though, working around the clock, and giving out relief packages, even though some of them have lost their own homes. Darren also spent time in Kathmandu, with Nischal (the head of the Nepal Physio Association) meeting with the Minister of Health, and helping to coordinate the rehab services across the country, alongside Handicap International, ICRC etc, with everyone focusing on working together and using Nepali resources well, which is all brilliant!
He was also there through the second earthquake (7.4), closer to Dhulikhel… and sent this message, “I’m ok. It was a rather large aftershock and not too far from where I am. The whole building I was in swayed/ shook for 30seconds or so but I wasn’t in it for that long. Nepalis can run very fast I have found out. I didn’t get to finish my lunch. Casualties started coming into the hospital nearly straight away. I’m sure there will be many more through the night and tomorrow. I am sleeping outside tonight with my friends. Everyone is very scared and so many crying because they couldn’t contact relatives. The hospital buildings have got big cracks in them after this one and all the patients are outside. Thanks for your thoughts. Keep remembering the Nepali people it is very tough.”
If you would like to see Darren’s recent photos in Dhulikhel, please go to my facebook page https://www.facebook.com/myseventhmonsooon
If you would like to give towards INF’s response to the disaster, please go to http://www.inf.org/earthquake-appeal-australia