A week after an earthquake in Taiwan killed 13 people and injured more than 1,000, a Canadian couple are nursing their injuries and┬аrecounting their own tale of survival.
Lelia Lemay of Montreal and her boyfriend Brandon Iwanyshyn of┬аEdmonton┬аwere hiking April 3 in the Taroko┬аGorge, in a national park on the eastern part of the island, when the magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck.
It should have been a magical week of vacation for the couple who work at an international school┬аin Dalian, China.
Taroko National Park, a popular hiking destination about 25 kilometres northwest of the hard-hit city of Hualien,┬аhad been┬аthe perfect setting to celebrate Lemay’s┬а34th birthday on April 4.
‘A perfect day’
The couple┬аset out early, at 7:15 a.m., to beat the arrival of tourist buses on what Lemay said was “a perfect day.”
“The gorge was turquoise; the sky was blue,” she told Radio-Canada in French┬аTuesday, in a video interview┬аfrom a Hualien hospital.
At 7:58 a.m., as they hiked alone,┬аthe ground┬аsuddenly began to shake, triggering landslides all around them. Both were hit┬аby falling rocks.
Lemay recalls falling to the ground from the impact and trying to protect her head.
“I just said to myself: ‘There you go, it’s April 3rd.┬аTomorrow I’m supposed to turn 34 but I won’t. It all ends now.'”
In a state of shock, the couple ran to take cover near a mini-power plant. They tried to get in, but it was locked.
“The last thing I remember is us being on all fours and trying to protect ourselves,” said Iwanyshyn, who did his interview in English. “We hid behind this little wall.”┬а
Struggling on through serious injuries
Both were seriously injured. Lemay┬аhad numerous cuts and would later learn she had┬аfractured vertebrae. Brandon suffered a compound fracture to his skull and broke his foot.
“Brandon told me, ‘I’m OK…. I’m fine.'” Lemay said. “But I had seen his cut;┬аI knew it wasn’t fine. I didn’t want us to spend the night.”
With almost no food or water and constant aftershocks, they decided it was best to keep moving. They were helped by the fact that Iwanyshyn had kept notes, tracking time and travel co-ordinates.
“We knew that both of us had injuries, but we said to ourselves: Can we walk? Yes.┬аSo let’s do it.”
They provided their loved ones with their locations before losing cell reception, then decided to follow the river out, as the rocks didn’t seem to reach it, Iwanyshyn said. They eventually arrived at a spot on the trail that normally sells food and souvenirs and found 10 other survivors.
“Seeing those people┬аwas like Christmas morning,” he said.
Aftershocks trigger┬аpanic
All 12 hikers were taken to Tzu Chi Hospital┬аin Hualien. The couple will stay there for at least nine┬аmore days to recover from surgery.
Lelia has to wear a cervical collar and Brandon’s now-shaven head has a huge gash held together with stitches.
There are also emotional scars. Each aftershock, more than 700 recorded over the past week, sows panic.
The first large aftershock at the hospital triggered what Lemay┬аbelieves was a panic attack. After big┬аaftershocks, a nurse knocks on their door to ask if they are OK.
“For us, in Taroko Gorge, every aftershock meant we had to be careful because rocks were falling,” said Lemay. “I think that this feeling of not being in panic mode, but on extra alert, is difficult to get rid of.”
Lemay said they are taking their injuries day by day and will focus on rest.
The kindness of strangers
The couple are extremely grateful┬аto the people that helped them in their ordeal:┬аfriends and family and┬аco-workers, as well as those┬аthey’ve met post-quake, including emergency responders and hospital staff.
The couple also say they are impressed by the help they got from the Canadian consulate in Taipei. A representative has visited them almost every day at the hospital.
One stranger┬аthey met at the hospital saw that Lemay was in pain, took her hand and stroked her hair.
“She found out it was my birthday, then came back with a cake and a birthday card. It was just incredible, the kindness of people, of strangers.”
