PE doctor helps in Nepal quake terror
Medic safe after trip to Nepal ends in him coming to rescue of victims injured in huge disaster
APORT Elizabeth doctor is making his way home from disaster-hit Nepal after helping emergency teams treat survivors of an earthquake that killed more than 3 700 people.
General practitioner Jacques Theron, a member of the city’s Rover Motorcycle Club, has been tending to injured residents following the devastating quake.
The doctor, who could not be reached for comment, has been commended by friends for stepping in to help.
Marina van Schalkwyk took to Facebook to reassure others that the doctor was safe and making plans to return to Port Elizabeth.
She said she had received a message from Theron which she would post in his words.
Theron said: “There was another aftershock this afternoon [Sunday] but we are in a very safe place. [We] slept outside last night, too scared to be inside a building.”
Theron also said there were problems on the ground.
“The city has no electricity, flights are cancelled and I have no idea at this stage when I can get a flight.
“Wi-fi’s more scarce than hen’s teeth, at the moment – my only form of communication.
“Have just sent a message to the people who bought the air tickets in England, hopefully I will know by tomorrow [Monday] about what the flight plans are,” he wrote. In the picture, posted by the Rover Motorcycle Club, Theron can be seen tending to an injured man who is laid out on a green mat.
Friends are both relieved that Theron is safe and proud of his willingness to help.
“Happy and relieved that my GP and mate Dr Jacques Theron is OK, and extremely proud that he is able to help out the injured in Nepal. Hope your team is OK and safe.
“Keep well and a safe passage home. Thoughts and prayers for this country,” wrote Kevin Stewart Slattery.
Ryan Joe Terbz wrote: “Doc, you are the man! Get back safe my friend!”
Meanwhile, international aid agencies, including South African Gift of the Givers, were preparing massive relief operations, as the South African government said all its citizens were accounted for.
Provision of the help was announced as thousands of Nepalis began fleeing the capi- tal Kathmandu yesterday, terror-stricken by two days of powerful aftershocks following the earthquake.
Members of the Gift of the Givers were due to fly to Nepal last night in a chartered plane with a team of search-and-rescue and trauma specialists.
The World Health Organisation has begun distributing medical supplies and the World Food Programme was loading a plane with rations of high energy biscuits in Dubai.
In Nepal, many of Kathmandu’s one million residents have slept in the open since Saturday, either because their homes were flattened or they were terrified that aftershocks would bring them crashing down.
Yesterday, thousands of people streamed out of the city. Roads from Kathmandu were jammed with people, some carrying babies, trying to climb onto buses or hitch rides aboard cars and trucks to the plains. Long queues had formed at the airport.
In Pretoria, international relations spokesman Clayson Monyela said official were unaware of any unaccounted South Africans.
“But if relatives have not heard from their loved ones, let us know,” he said.
There were South Africans among those who had to be rescued by helicopter on Mount Everest.
Saray Khumalo had to be rescued from Camp One, after she trekked from Camp Two on Everest.
At base camp there were reminders of the avalanche that killed at least 18 people.
South African guide Sean Wisedale wrote on his blog: “I walked to the improvised helipad after a cup of overly sweet Sherpa tea.
“Three frozen corpses bound in sleeping bags and tarps await an airlift.” – Additional reporting by AFP and Reuters