María, amputated of 1 leg by the Lorca earthquake: “I skilled the identical anguish as these of the earthquake in Turkey and Syria”


This Lorca lady fell 19 meters from the cornice of the hairdressing salon the place she labored and misplaced a leg. It was on the hospital when a health care provider gave her the information: “Mari, we’re going to should amputate you.” And she replied: “Amputate no matter you need, I wish to keep right here” “It is being very exhausting for me to see the photographs of the earthquake in Turkey and Syria”

María López was one of the significantly injured within the earthquake in Lorca (Murcia) in May 2011. In that tragedy, 9 individuals died and greater than 320 had been injured. With the second earthquake, this Lorca lady fell 19 meters from the cornice of the hairdresser’s the place she labored on prime of her and she or he misplaced a leg.

Almost 12 years later, probably the most great reminiscences of his life come again to him after seeing the photographs of the victims and injured of the earthquake in Turkey and Syria. “I fell on a buyer on the hairdresser, who instructed me that she could not breathe, and I bought up a bit to attempt to get her out. It was then that I spotted that my leg was not with me, that she was significantly injured. I bought up a bit in order that they might take her out and I used to be face down, ”she remembers. At that second, every little thing crossed his thoughts. “I thought of what might occur to me. These are moments of nice anguish, of many questions that haven’t any reply at that second.”

The first to reach had been the firefighters. “My son, my sister and my neighbors got here to the hairdresser. My in-laws and my husband additionally got here. My father-in-law instructed my husband to place a tourniquet on my leg, however he stated no as a result of he wasn’t bleeding. All these uncertainties and moments are very exhausting. You suppose that you will depart, however I used to be fortunate and he needed to keep, though with a much less a part of me, ”he factors out.

Maria didn’t lose consciousness at any time. “I noticed every little thing that was taking place round me. It was chaos. Each one stated one factor. She noticed everybody’s anguish for wanting to assist and never understanding the best way to do it. Only when the firefighters arrived did they begin handing out gloves and did not let anybody get shut,” she factors out.

Your son, in entrance

The hardest factor was having his son in entrance of him. So a lot in order that she requested a neighbor to throw her a blanket as a result of she did not need him to see her in that state. “I requested them to deliver my son nearer and I requested him to bend down as a result of I used to be nonetheless face down: ‘Marc, do not cry as a result of the mom isn’t going to die.’ His face of anguish was superior ”, she will get emotional.

The firefighters put a splint below it with out touching it and waited for the ambulances to come back. First they took her boss, who was unconscious, and so they took María in a grocery store van to the Rafael Méndez Hospital. “On the best way I believed: ‘Maybe I will not die as a result of I’m not dizzy.’ The solely factor she didn’t need was to shut her eyes as a result of she believed that if she did, she wouldn’t open them once more.

It was on the hospital when a health care provider gave her the information: “Mari, we’re going to should amputate you,” he instructed her. And she replied: “Amputate me no matter you need, I wish to keep right here.” “Only these of us who’ve skilled one thing like this may categorical it,” she says. “That’s why after I see the photographs of what’s taking place, I get upset.”

Until Thursday, Maria was unable to look at the information. “Yesterday, I made a decision to see them as a result of it’s one thing that I’ve to beat. When I noticed that they had been taking individuals out after 48 hours, I stated that I had skilled this anguish, though not that lengthy, and I do not want it on anybody. And I can not get to suppose how human beings can endure a lot. That’s why it is being so exhausting for me.”