Not the Post I Expected to Make...

I had a post all in my head, I am about to embark on something fresh and new...
but that will have to wait.

Yesterday afternoon at 12.51pm a devastating earthquake hit Christchurch and outlying areas. I grabbed Sian, the only of the midgets that was at home, and cowered under a doorway, it was hard to run, the ground was very very violent.

Within minutes I realised that this had been worse than the September 4th, 2010 earthquake.... the national TV stations were showing scary images that reminded me of 9/11 with people running, smoke, dust, confusion, terror and all this happening out in front of me - in the distance....

I tracked down family and most friends, all seemed fine.

Then my sister phoned. Her best friend, and friend of mine, had lost her husband... but let's go back a couple of years...

Chris (Mrs) married Chris (Mr) five years ago in November. They were very happy, 2 black labs, good jobs, nice house in the burbs. They struggled to have a baby and finally got accepted onto the IVF programme, after multiple tries and disappointments they had a bouncy wee baby boy. Just after he was born Chris (Mr) was transfered, with his painting job, to Auckland from Christchurch. Away the family embarked on a new adventure.

Things were slow to settle in Auckland, hard enough being in a new place with no family or friends, especially with a wee baby, but Chris (Mr) was struggling to cope with the new warmer climate, he was always tired and felt like he might be coming down with something.. this went on for months, nothing was ever found at the Drs, he was just struggling. Enough was enough, he put his foot down and refused to leave the Drs one day until this was sorted.... by the end of the day he had been admitted to hospital, only to leave for small periods of time over the next couple of years. He had an aggressive form of leukaemia, then they found tumours, then they found bone cancer.... the poor buggar was in a state. Chris (Mrs) was struggling too, no support, constant hospital visits where she wasn't allowed to take her baby in because of the high risk to Chris (Mr). In a time of stable blood cell count the family relocated back to Christchurch, where Chris (Mr) took up near permanent residence in Christchurch Hospital's Oncology unit. Every time things looked a bit better he would be out for a day or two and then things would go bad, he'd be back in. In October 2010 he received a bone marrow transplant, which at first didn't take, but finally started to do it's thing and make him healthier....

January 18th, 2011 - four weeks ago, Chris (Mrs) was ecstatic, her facebook page said it all. Chris (Mr) was being release from hospital, not just for the day but for good. They couldn't be happier, they had a new home in Brighton, health was returning to their family.

Yesterday morning they left their wee son with Chris'(Mrs) parents and headed into the city, did some jobs and had a lovely lunch in Cashel Mall, near the Bridge of Rememberance....

at 12.51pm the 6.3 magnitude earthquake abruptly hit Christchurch and ripped their lives apart - permanently.

They were just walking out of the cafe as it happened, Chris (Mrs) pushed her husband hard out of the way of falling debri, he still didn't have the strength to move at any pace. He was knocked to the ground by part of a falling building and she threw herself over top of him to protect him from anything else coming down. When the dust cleared she noticed that he was bleeding out from his leg, she ripped off her top and tried to tourniquet his thigh, it wouldn't work, he fell unconcious. A couple of people tried CPR but he didn't recover and a policeman told them they had to leave. Chris (Mrs) punched the policeman in despair, how could he think she could leave her still warm husband there?? She had no choice, a shop assistant covered his body with a curtain, Chris (Mrs) took his wallet from his pants, she couldn't bear to think of people going through it, and she wrote his name and details on the curtain ---- and left her soulmate.

She wandered through town alone, there was no support around, a mother and father ran past her with their obviously dead daughter in their arms, screaming for help. There was none. Everyone else was trying to survive.

Chris (Mrs) walked barefoot and topless until some random stranger gave her a top, hitchhiked and walked to her home, phones were down, no one could come to help her as noone knew what had happened. When she got home her house was totalled, her car in a hole in the ground, she turned around and hitchhiked and got a taxi to her parents place in Burnside, still covered in dust, sewarage, blood and smoke. There she found her 2 year old son fitting with an extreme temperature. He has been to doctor and it's a virus.

Our friend has lost everything, her husband, her house, her car (and his - it's in a carparking building in central city).

This is just one story to come out of yesterday's quake, it's an extremely tragic one. I have another friend who's good friend is in the CTV building which is currently a pile of burning rubble....
Hug your loved ones. Money, possessions, arguments, it's all crap - it means nothing.

Our house is fine, our possessions fine, kids fine - we are the lucky ones