How 2 Canadians fought to survive the Taiwan earthquake

A week after an earth‐ quake in Taiwan killed 13 people and injured more than 1,000, a Canadian cou‐ ple are nursing their in‐ juries and recounting their own tale of survival.

Lelia Lemay of Montreal and her boyfriend Brandon

Iwanyshyn of Edmonton were hiking April 3 in the Taroko Gorge, in a national park on the eastern part of the island, when the magni‐ tude 7.4 earthquake struck.

It should have been a magical week of vacation for the couple who work at an international school in Dali‐ an, China.

Taroko National Park, a popular hiking destination about 25 kilometres north‐ west of the hard-hit city of Hualien, had been the per‐ fect setting to celebrate Lemay's 34th birthday on April 4.

'A perfect day'

The couple set out early, at 7:15 a.m., to beat the ar‐ rival 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 Tuesday, in a video interview from a Hualien hospital.

At 7:58 a.m., as they hiked alone, the ground suddenly began to shake, triggering landslides all around them. Both were hit by 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. Tomorrow 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 lock‐ ed.

"The last thing I remem‐ ber is us being on all fours and trying to protect our‐ selves," said Iwanyshyn, who did his interview in English. "We hid behind this little wall."

Struggling on through serious injuries

Both were seriously in‐ jured. Lemay had numerous cuts and would later learn she had fractured vertebrae. Brandon suffered a com‐ pound 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; I knew it wasn't fine. I didn't want us to spend the night."

With almost no food or water and constant after‐ shocks, they decided it was best to keep moving. They were helped by the fact that Iwanyshyn had kept notes, tracking time and travel coordinates.

"We knew that both of us had injuries, but we said to ourselves: Can we walk? Yes. So let's do it."

They provided their loved ones with their locations be‐ fore 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 nor‐ mally sells food and sou‐ venirs and found 10 other survivors.

"Seeing those people was like Christmas morning," he said.

Aftershocks panic

All 12 hikers were taken to Tzu Chi Hospital in Hualien. The couple will stay there for at least nine more days to re‐ cover from surgery.

Lelia has to wear a cervi‐ cal collar and Brandon's nowshaven 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 believes was a panic attack. After big aftershocks, a nurse knocks on their door to ask if they are OK. trigger

"For us, in Taroko Gorge, every aftershock meant we had to be careful because rocks were falling," said Lemay. "I think that this feel‐ ing of not being in panic mode, but on extra alert, is difficult to get rid of."

Lemay said they are tak‐ ing their injuries day by day and will focus on rest.

The kindness strangers

The couple are extremely grateful to the people that helped them in their ordeal: friends and family and coworkers, as well as those they've met post-quake, in‐ cluding emergency respon‐ ders and hospital staff.

The couple also say they are impressed by the help they got from the Canadian consulate in Taipei. A repre‐ sentative has visited them al‐ most every day at the hospi‐ tal.

One stranger they 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." of