by Connie Tabbert
Editor
BEACHBURG — A Beachburg woman in Pokhara, Nepal was in a quandary — she knew what she should do for her family, but as a nurse, she wanted to offer medical assistance following the earthquake in Nepal.
However, not familiar with the language and knowing she could be more of a hindrance than a help to the medical people who were able to help, Leree MacPherson thought of her family and decided to come home.
Sitting at her kitchen table, the 21-year-old Ms. MacPherson believes it’s a time she won’t forget. She and friend Gen (Genevieve) Chan had just finished their nursing studies in March and decided to go to Nepal for a two week nursing internship through Work the World — Healthcare Internships Overseas. She and Ms. Chan spent a week “just for fun” in Hong Kong, then the two worked on the general medical floor of Gandaki (Western Regional Hospital).
“It was a different exposure to nursing,” she said.
Early on the morning of April 25, Ms. MacPherson and Ms. Chan set out from Pokhara to Kathmandu with Greenline Bus Tours. They stopped for lunch at one of the small villages that dot this country. Just as they got back on the bus, they noticed people running out of their homes and shops with frightened looks on their faces.
The bus began to shake from side to side.
“We thought there was a fire because there was so much dust it looked like smoke,” Ms. MacPherson recalled. “But, I knew there were no volcanoes in Nepal.”
While some of the people on the bus got off, she stayed on, after being told it would be safer there, because live wires were falling to the ground.
“It lasted for about 30 seconds,” she said. “I have no idea really, but it probably wasn’t as long as I think it was.”
When the bus stopped shaking, the people got back on and they continued on their journey, not realizing they had just lived through a major earthquake.
“Along the way, there were rocks on the road and landslides,” she said.
“We were dodging rocks and abandoned cars,” she recalled. “There was only one lane for traffic.”
She recalled seeing one car that was crushed by a large rock.
“We checked it for blood, but there wasn’t any,” Ms. MacPherson said.
There was a woman on the bus who was able to reach her husband by cell phone and was told three had been an earthquake with catastrophic consequences and the bus might not be able to get into Kathmandu because of the damage.
“It was a quiet bus ride the rest of the way,” she said.
They arrived in Kathmandu about two hours later than they should have, arriving at 5:30 instead of 3 or 3:30 p.m., she said.
“The streets were in chaos,” Ms. MacPherson said.
There was a woman on the bus crying because the Dharahara tower had been destroyed. This was a 60-metre white minaret tower built in 1832.
“The shock of the damage was too much for her,” she recalled.
She found out there had been aftershocks, but they didn’t feel them while on the bus, probably “because the road was so bumpy.”
Once in Kathmandu, their journey wasn’t over, because they still needed to get to the airport which was a 30 minute drive way.
There was a man with a rickshaw outside the bus station who would take them to a friend who had a taxi.
Ms. MacPherson said they were quite the sight in the rickshaw — four bags, two packpacks and the two of them inside this tiny contraption.
“We were convinced we weren’t going to survive the bike ride,” she recalled.
When they arrived at the taxi, they were astounded to find out the price was triple of what it should have been. Instead of costing $6, they had to pay $20. However, not knowing any other way to the airport, they paid.
“It was an expensive ride,” she said. “At the airport, it was completely nuts.”
Their flight was not yet up on the arrival board, but all others had been cancelled, she said.
While standing in the airport, Ms. MacPherson said she could hear someone shouting her name.
“I stand out like a sore thumb,” she said with a laugh. “I’m tall and have red hair.”
It was two friends from Pokhara who hadn’t made it out.
They decided to spend the night at the airport. However, it wasn’t meant to be.
Sam, one of the students, called his father who advised them to go to the Kathmandu Work the World House. That House manager said that would be fine, since it didn’t sustain much damage.
They arrived about 11 p.m. and there were about 10 other interns there, but they were all outside, Ms. MacPherson said.
While the house was safe and sturdy, the aftershocks were a concern. They agreed to bring the mattresses into the lounge area, which was closest to the door.
“Three times we rushed outside that night,” she recalled. “We went out about 12:30, three and 5:30,” she said. “It was the worse night’s sleep I’d ever had. You’d wake up to the ground shaking beneath you. It was quite the experience.”
Ms. Chan called her parents who then called Ms. MacPherson’s parents, Darryl and Dwylla back in Foresters Falls, to let them know their daughter was safe.
“I know my dad was breathing a sigh of relief,” Ms. MacPherson said.
The next morning (April 26), another friend, Katie, called her mother in Hong Kong and was advised there was a 3:15 p.m. flight out of Kathmandu that day.
“We packed our stuff and looked for a ride going to the airport,” she said.
While it was difficult, they did find a bus and made it through all the rubble to the airport, which was jam-packed with people.
The airport is tiny and old and not organized at all, Ms. MacPherson said.
“There was an extremely long line-up and people were getting angry with each other because people were cutting in line,” she said.
While in line, Ms. MacPherson said there was an aftershock which rated 6.2 on he Richter scale (used to determine the strength of an earthquake).
The departure board was showing their flight from the previous evening, but not the one they were hoping to take at 3:15 p.m. she said. So, they thought maybe it had been rescheduled. They remained at the airport and were quite fortunate they left around 7 p.m.
“We go outside to walk to the plane and it looked like everyone was already on it,” she said.
“We were sprinting to make sure we didn’t miss it. We must have missed the first call.”
There was such a feeling of joy, that when the plane took off, people began clapping, she said.
“It was like, yaaaaa, we’re safe.”
They had a five hour flight to Hong Kong and then it was on to Toronto.
While on the cell phone en route to Hong Kong, a message came up saying something like you were in the Nepal earthquake, please mark if you are safe.
“It was great being able to see if everyone was safe,” she said.
She called her parents from the airport, advising she was getting ready to come home.
When she arrived in Toronto around 11 p.m., Ms. MacPherson was wide awake and decided to drive home, arriving around 5 o’clock in the morning.
“I just wanted to get home,” she recalled.
Looking back, Ms. MacPherson said it was a “huge struggle for me on the bus to the airport.”
There were people on stretchers in the streets and while there were doctors and nurses helping, there weren’t enough, she said.
“There was one nurse to a huge amount of people,” she said. “There were probably many people who weren’t going to get care, who weren’t able to get medical attention.”
However, she also knew, if she didn’t get the flight out of Nepal, she may not get out for days or weeks.
“I felt guilty, but was so lucky to get out.
“It was fight or flight and I had to get out and survive. Our families were a priority to us.”
Ms. MacPherson said while in Nepal for the two weeks, it was mostly as observers.
“I don’t have much experience in a crisis situation,” she said. “I thought I would be more of a hindrance.”
Not only because of lack of experience, but also because she didn’t speak the local language. Also, their way of administering medical attention is a little different than what she had been taught.
After arriving at home, Ms. MacPherson admits she was “easily startled and shakey,” for the first few days.
She said travelling is still in her future.
“I like the idea of travel nursing,” Ms. MacPherson said.
