A Story

This was written by Marlene Minor, VP of Communications, here in the room with me.

 

When the earthquake hit, Tamara, 29, and her family lived on the second story of a four-story apartment building.

 

The structured pancaked in on them.  It killed their four-year-old son immediately.

 

Tamara, 29, was trapped in the building for 10 hours.  Her husband, Peterson, 30, friends and relatives rescued her from the rubble.  Her leg was crushed ... and she was close to delivering a baby.

 

Peterson also carried with him his deceased son and a pair of shorts that belonged to his now lifeless son.  Tamara emerged from the building with her leg crushed ...just days from delivering a baby.

 

Tamara and Peterson huddled together for shelter and comfort in a local homeless "tent" city that sprang up in their neighborhood.

 

Then, friends brought her to King's Hospital as her leg got worse.  There our doctors operated, saved her leg and she began to recuperate in our triage area.

 

After they fixed her leg (its in a cast) she was laying out in open air triage area and went into labor.  Ann barely got her into the hospital onto a bed to deliver the baby.
 
The whole time she's in labor the husband is crying and holding up the shorts of their dead son.
 
Thankfully, their new baby girl was born healthy yesterday and is doing well.  This morning, Ann and I walked up the hill.  Ann told me this story in a minute.  Held the baby for some "baby therapy" before returning to the land of operations and amputations.  She said, "This is life.  This is hope."

I told the mother, "Belle" for beautiful about the baby and we were off.
 
As we were rushing off as Ann had a crowd issue to attend to as more patients lined up, she told me the baby girl's name, Jesula, translated to Jesus There.
 
Amen.