A story from the Chinese earthquake

[serai]

Found at China Vortex:


In the 512 earthquake, a friend was fortunate enough to survive, walking out of the ruins alive and with a story. It was a story that surfaces in every disaster, a story so common, yet it touches us all while we go about our lives.

When the rescuers found her, she was already dead, crushed by the collapsed building. They could see her through the debris, on her knees with hands flat on the ground, holding up her body. It was almost as if she was bowing ceremoniously, but her body was misshapen, crushed by the building. Rescuers reached a hand in to check that she was dead, shouting and using a stick to lightly knock on the bricks, waiting for a reply or some sign of life from her that never came. When the group turned their attention towards the next pile of debris, the team leader suddenly rushed back, shouting, “Over here, hurry!” He once again stopped in front of her body, trying his best to reach a hand in to feel the ground sheltered by her torso, shouting, “There’s someone here, a child, still alive!”

The rescuers worked to move the debris carefully, finding her child sheltered beneath her torso. A baby, about four months old, wrapped in a red blanket with yellow flowers stitched on. Sheltered by his mother’s body, he was unscathed. They carried him out from the debris, sound asleep, his sleeping face warming the hearts of everyone at the scene in the face of death.

A doctor rushed over, undoing the blanket to check for signs of injury on the baby. He found a handphone stuffed under the blanket, and instinctively glanced at the screen. There was a message on the screen, “My darling, if you live through this, please remember that I love you.” Despite having seen death countless times, tears rolled down the doctor’s face. The handphone was passed around, evoking tears from everyone at the scene.

The young mother must have tried calling for help using the handphone, but in disasters of this scale, telecommunications often fail. She spent her last moments leaving a message for her beloved child.

Comments

[mews1945.livejournal.com]

Do you know what I feel when I read something like this? Rage. The baby lived. His mother died. Probably hundreds or thousands died. What I find miraculous is the love of the mother who gave her life to save him.

[wyna-hiros.livejournal.com]

Holy shit.

[claudia603.livejournal.com]

oh. oh wow.

[i-o-r-h-a-e-l.livejournal.com]

Oh, God Almighty.

[mole-caz.livejournal.com]

Oh that has made me cry too. Just imagine what was going through that poor mother's mind......

[poplij.livejournal.com]

Aw, this is very touching :'( I can't even begin to imagine the heartache the poor woman must have felt, not knowing if her child would survive. It makes me all the more thankful that I can spend another beautiful day with my children.

[belleferret.livejournal.com]

So powerfully sad and hopeful at the same time. The child was blessed to survive and have such a loving mother. Yet how sad he will never know her.

[honeyandvinegar.livejournal.com]

Oh my god... that brought tears to my eyes, of course. That's what I would do, if I could.

[westmoon.livejournal.com]

What a story - that really brings it home.

Every time I hear an update on the earthquake I'm reminded of just how very lucky some of us are.

[magpie-2.livejournal.com]

I imagine you would feel so helpless in a situation like that, Its the stuff of nightmares to have a disaster out of your control and loosing a child. I hope somehow she knows that she saved him.

[biting-moopie.livejournal.com]

Am crying. Thank you for sharing this.

[frolijah-fan-54.livejournal.com]

It's incredibly moving what that mother did for her baby - but even more miraculous that she somehow managed to keep her body in the position that protected the baby - what an amazing story.