The survivors’ club
TWENTY- THREE STRANGERS who cheated death in the Christchurch earthquake have been united by their survival.
The shop assistant who ‘‘bent like a staple’’ on Cashel Mall, the father of four who broke his neck after cycling into a liquefaction hole, and the financial adviser who had his legs amputated by hacksaw in the ruins of the Pyne Gould Corporation building now support each other through their ‘‘ongoing battles’’.
Some spent hours pinned in rubble, others weeks in induced comas, and many spent months in Burwood Hospital.
Almost two years on, a group of people who fought to stay alive that February 22 meet every fortnight at wheelchair- accessible cafes to talk about their struggles.
The 23 include men and women with severe crush injuries, brain and serious nerve damage, three paraplegics and three double amputees. They launched the Canterbury Earthquake Survivors Trust to help with their ongoing medical costs and injury-related expenses, and many are active fundraisers.
Five of them, including paraplegic Bev Edwards, were selling raffles and running a quiz night at a Ferrymead pub last week.
Event organiser Summer Olliver, 24 – who spent six hours trapped in the PGC building with a sixtonne beam on her back – hopes the trust will help raise awareness.
‘‘A lot of the country don’t seem to know about us. I’ve talked to people and they often say they didn’t know there were people like us out there. We want people to know, and we want their support.’’
Money raised helps fill gaps in ACC funding, such as adjustments to homes, physio and massage, or heat pumps to ease the chill for paraplegics.
Olliver suffers chronic pain and recently installed a remote control garage door because it was exhausting getting in and out of
We have things in common, like pain, discomfort and embarrassment. Being able to pick up the phone and talk to a friend going through the same thing is enough to get you through the day. Paraplegic Bev Edwards, 54
her car to open the gate, and again to open the garage, after a day at work. The door was not funded by ACC, she said. ‘‘ Those kinds of things are necessities. They might sound like luxuries, and before the quake they would have been.’’
Just being together is ‘‘ like another form of therapy’’, Olliver said. ‘‘We are friends who have become tight because we can relate to each other.’’
Paraplegic Bev Edwards, 54, said it was great to talk to someone who understood when you were feeling down. ‘‘We have things in common, like pain, discomfort and embarrassment. Being able to pick up the phone and talk to a friend going through the same thing is enough to get you through the day.’’
She was in a Sydenham cafe when the quake hit, and the woman sitting at the table next to her was killed.
The practice nurse said any money raised would help her with some ‘‘home comforts’’, such as special flooring for her bedroom, ‘‘soaked’’ daily after she used her shower chair.
Fellow survivor Jane Taylor, 54, gained ‘‘friendship and comradeship’’ from the group. She broke nearly every bone in her body after a building collapsed on her, and spent three weeks in an induced coma. ‘‘ We have gone through something no one else has. There is a sense we can understand each other.’’
Ken Hird, 51, had to be resuscitated when he broke his neck after cycling into a hole on New Brighton Rd. He spent three months in Burwood Hospital and knows he was lucky to live. He swims with Edwards every week, and said spending time with survivors was ‘‘part of the healing process’’.
‘‘We all went through it, and it brought everyone together. We lean on one another for support. When someone achieves something, everyone gets a great feeling from it. Life tasks are so much harder than they used to be, and achieving new things is like getting our independence back.’’
Next month four fighters take part in the Fight for Christchurch to support the trust. To make a donation, go to www. canterburyearthquakesurvivors.org.nz.