Moving stories and rescues fuel hope after earthquake in Taiwan: “I’m lucky”

While the Taiwan rescue agencies They continue to search for dozens of people who are still missing after the earthquake on April 3, the world is slowly learning some stories of anonymous heroes who saved several lives.

One of the moving cases corresponds to the heroic act of hospital nursing staff who risked everything for keeping 15 newborn babies safe in wobbly cribs.

“Of course we were very scared, but I think this is the natural instinct of maternity staff. Babies are patient and their safety is of utmost importance,” said Chen Ying-Chin, supervisor at the Ma Cherie Birthing Center in Taipei.

The women’s satisfaction was seeing that everything happened and that both the children and they lived to tell about it.

Another moving case was reunion of an 85-year-old mother with her son. “I was happy to see him, I was happy when he came back. “Last night I didn’t sleep at all and I couldn’t eat anything,” said Chen Lan-Chin, after hugging David Chen, who works in a hotel and who was rescued along with 50 other colleagues who were abandoned near a road.

“I am lucky to survive this disaster. We were terrified, especially when the earthquake happened. For the first time we thought it was over since that place was prone to rockfall,” Chen said.

The rescue operation for Chen and his coworkers was fraught with danger, as they had to follow the rescuers on foot down the mountain, navigating muddy waterfalls and running. to avoid being hit by falling rocks.

On the other hand, joy was also for a group of tourists who, far from spending a peaceful vacation, faced moments of anguish, but achieved a happy reunion.

“The night was a terrible experience with aftershocks, tremors and rocks falling frequently. In the morning, some of us who spoke English got together and decided to head in the direction of the hotel. Fortunately we had some first aid” recalled Namrita, originally from Singapore.