2010 Haiti earthquake survivor urges his country to stay strong after devastating earthquake

SAN ANTONIO – A survivor of the massive 7.0-magnitude earthquake in Haiti in 2010 hopes her survival story will encourage her country’s people to move forward.

Bethley Ball, 21, resides in San Antonio as an occupational health intern with CPS Energy.

She said she arrived in the United States in March 2010, shortly after the earthquake, which occurred on January 12, 2010.

“That day was really weird,” Paul said. “I was upset with my parents because I didn’t want to go to school but my mom made me. I did the whole day and because I didn’t do my homework I had to go to teaching after school. My whole class didn’t actually do my homework so we all had to Stay then for tutoring. It was just after 4:00 p.m., and we had just sat down when I started hearing that loud roar out of nowhere. As if it was really loud and really unique.”

Paul said her life changed forever at that moment.

“Next thing I know,” she said, “I was on the floor and the ceiling was so close to my face.” I didn’t know what happened. The school building fell on me.”

ad

Unfortunately, her best friend died right next to her.

“I’m not supposed to be here,” said Paul. “I was sitting in a place where a pole was just above me. It ended up in the exact same spot I was and I was thinking, ‘How did we switch?’ I knew it was her because when I was trying to move I could feel her braids.”

Paul ended up stuck in the rubble for seven hours.

“It got dark for a second and then I tried to move and stand up and couldn’t,” Paul said. I felt like my leg was stuck under something. I tried pulling and pulling and pulling and it wouldn’t budge, and I think I fainted a few times. It felt like 30 minutes and not seven hours. I heard my classmates are trying to get me water. I don’t know how I survived because I ended up in the back and they were in the front. They could not deliver water to me because I was obscured by pillars around me.”

She said she started hearing her mother’s voice.

ad

“It was very strange because of all the screaming that was going on, I could hear my mother’s voice,” Paul said. I started screaming and screaming and screaming until my voice hurt and they found me. My uncle kept digging and digging and even when the others gave up he said he would find me and he did.”

Paul said she was rushed into an open field on a makeshift stretcher.

“When I got out, I realized the thing I was doing was my shin bone,” Paul said. “It wasn’t plastic, it was my shin bone. I didn’t feel anything though when I was wearing it. I think it was adrenaline but it probably made the injury worse.”

She said it was foggy and the screams of the others were piercing.

“You could hear everyone screaming for the pain and for help and for the people who went missing,” she said. “It was a different kind of screaming.”

Paul said that doctors in the field realized the severity of her injury.

ad

“They said if we didn’t put the bone back in my leg it would get infected, so without anesthesia or anything, they broke my bone in place and I screamed so hard,” Paul said. “They didn’t have anything but a bible to nibble on, so I nibbled on that because it hurts so much.”

After she finally finds a truck to take them to the hospital, despite the aftershock, the nurses tell her they can only get two people to the States.

“It was me and another kid who is now my best friend now, and at first they told me I could take my dad, but then they said I had to go on my own,” Paul said. “When I got here, it was really scary to be away from my mother. I have never been away from her in my whole life. New country, new language, new people, everything. I was also in a lot of pain because of my leg.”

I stayed in the hospital for several months and still had to go to school.

ad

In the end, she was going to school in April and she also spoke English.

At that time, she entered the life of Steve Sprester and his family.

“They were some of the best people I’ve ever met,” Paul said. “It was very strange because they saw that I was very scared but they treated me very warmly and I wasn’t used to strangers being nice to me.”

Related: earthquake, family, character

Paul lived with the Sprester family for two years before she and her mother, who eventually moved to the United States, moved.

“I went to school, left that school, went to Alamo Heights, tried to join the dance team, and kept working,” Paul said. “The teacher said I had potential and then, I spent the next four years dancing on a broken leg half four years ago. I was doing twirls and jumps and all of that.”

ad

Paul said joining the dance team gave her a lot of confidence.

“It taught me how to stand up, perform and be myself and my sisters on the team helped me a lot,” Paul said. “I finished high school and went to San Antonio College to work as a nurse but then I quickly realized I don’t like blood.”

She changed her career to a Trainee Occupational Health Nurse.

“It was more desk work instead and I love it,” she said. The team I work with is very helpful. They helped me build myself up in a professional way. It was an amazing experience connecting with a group of people between the ages of 60-40.

Throughout her success, Paul said she still suffers from PTSD.

“A loud noise excites me,” Paul said. “The noise and seeing buildings collapse as they rebuild things downtown excites me. I can’t look at them. It’s so many little things. In Haiti, they don’t think PTSD is a thing. They feel it’s something you can push to the side and keep going. When I arrived To the States, my adoptive parents told me you should ask for help for this kind of thing.”

ad

When she saw the latest headlines, her heart sank.

“Honestly, I was shocked but I felt so lucky to be alive,” Paul said. “It made me realize that I was lucky because I could never have imagined that I would be here in a million years. People kept calling me, seeing if I was ok doing a job like I was OK but deep down I wanted to scream and throw a fit because I didn’t know how to handle With these feelings because I didn’t think it would happen again.”

Fortunately, she said, her family is fine in Haiti, but she can’t help but flash back to the past.

“I just thought, ‘I’m sorry,’ because it all came back on,” Paul said. That pain. Those cries. That fear of admiration, ‘Am I going to get to tomorrow?’ Will I go see my family again? Is everyone dead? is everybody okay?’ It was hard yesterday to just sit there and do nothing because you can’t do anything, but I know how these people feel hurt and I wonder what happens next. to be lost.”

ad

While that nation is going through a lot, Paul said they could only pray that something good would come out of it.

“It’s going to be really hard at first but in the end it’s going to be okay,” Paul said. “Haiti may not recover soon, but in the long run I hope it will. Have hope and keep helping and something good will come out of this. That’s what I believe because if I don’t believe anything else, I’m going crazy but something good will come out of this.”

She had these encouraging words to say to those dealing with such devastation.

“Life is unpredictable,” she said. “Just get up every day and say thank you and keep moving because you never know what could happen. You’ll be fine. There’s help from there.”

Despite suffering from PTSD, Paul said she wants to pursue a career in psychology to help others and raise awareness about mental health.

More about KSAT:

2010 Haiti earthquake survivor plans trip home

Copyright 2021 by KSAT – All rights reserved.

.

What Are The Main Benefits Of Comparing Car Insurance Quotes Online

LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / June 24, 2020, / Compare-autoinsurance.Org has launched a new blog post that presents the main benefits of comparing multiple car insurance quotes. For more info and free online quotes, please visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/the-advantages-of-comparing-prices-with-car-insurance-quotes-online/ The modern society has numerous technological advantages. One important advantage is the speed at which information is sent and received. With the help of the internet, the shopping habits of many persons have drastically changed. The car insurance industry hasn't remained untouched by these changes. On the internet, drivers can compare insurance prices and find out which sellers have the best offers. View photos The advantages of comparing online car insurance quotes are the following: Online quotes can be obtained from anywhere and at any time. Unlike physical insurance agencies, websites don't have a specific schedule and they are available at any time. Drivers that have busy working schedules, can compare quotes from anywhere and at any time, even at midnight. Multiple choices. Almost all insurance providers, no matter if they are well-known brands or just local insurers, have an online presence. Online quotes will allow policyholders the chance to discover multiple insurance companies and check their prices. Drivers are no longer required to get quotes from just a few known insurance companies. Also, local and regional insurers can provide lower insurance rates for the same services. Accurate insurance estimates. Online quotes can only be accurate if the customers provide accurate and real info about their car models and driving history. Lying about past driving incidents can make the price estimates to be lower, but when dealing with an insurance company lying to them is useless. Usually, insurance companies will do research about a potential customer before granting him coverage. Online quotes can be sorted easily. Although drivers are recommended to not choose a policy just based on its price, drivers can easily sort quotes by insurance price. Using brokerage websites will allow drivers to get quotes from multiple insurers, thus making the comparison faster and easier. For additional info, money-saving tips, and free car insurance quotes, visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ Compare-autoinsurance.Org is an online provider of life, home, health, and auto insurance quotes. This website is unique because it does not simply stick to one kind of insurance provider, but brings the clients the best deals from many different online insurance carriers. In this way, clients have access to offers from multiple carriers all in one place: this website. On this site, customers have access to quotes for insurance plans from various agencies, such as local or nationwide agencies, brand names insurance companies, etc. "Online quotes can easily help drivers obtain better car insurance deals. All they have to do is to complete an online form with accurate and real info, then compare prices", said Russell Rabichev, Marketing Director of Internet Marketing Company. CONTACT: Company Name: Internet Marketing CompanyPerson for contact Name: Gurgu CPhone Number: (818) 359-3898Email: [email protected]: https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ SOURCE: Compare-autoinsurance.Org View source version on accesswire.Com:https://www.Accesswire.Com/595055/What-Are-The-Main-Benefits-Of-Comparing-Car-Insurance-Quotes-Online View photos