| Did you do well in the market this year? |
|---|
 |
| If so, then maybe you can afford to make a donation to Free Republic! |
Posted on 01/04/2004 10:32:50 AM PST by Pan_Yans Wife
The 97-year-old woman rescued after nine days in the rubble of an earthquake appeared wrinkled and dry, but showed a big appetite Sunday. Officials said she likely survived because she was wrapped up in bed and had just gotten breakfast when the deadly quake shook Bam.
"Please I'm hungry, I need food," Sharbanou Mazandarani was heard saying when an Associated Press photographer visited the field hospital where she is being treated. "For the Imam's sake, please give me some food."
The death toll from the 6.6-magnitude quake rose to about 35,000, Brig. Gen. Hoseyn Fat'ahi of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps told Iran's official news agency. He said the injured numbered 17,000.
Figures for the dead have varied according to differing estimates of the number of bodies still under the rubble and thousands of unregistered burials.
Mazandarani was discovered by rescue workers on Saturday, her bed protected in an air pocket between two fallen walls. She was in "remarkably good shape" on Sunday, said Dr. Paul Odberg, medical coordinator for the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent operation in this ruined ancient city.
After the woman was rescued Saturday she asked for a cup of tea, then complained it was too hot to drink.
The rescue staff from the Iranian Red Crescent had spotted an arm poking from the rubble as they were retrieving more bodies from the rubble.
"They thought it was a dead body and then they dug out this lady of 97 years old who was wrapped up inside her bed," Odberg told reporters near the Red Cross hospital where Mazandarani is recuperating, a little dehydrated and her legs locked in a position bent upwards.
"She tells that just before the earthquake, her family had brought her food and drink into her bedroom," Oldberg said after meeting Mazandarani on Sunday morning after she'd had a night's sleep and eaten breakfast. "That and being wrapped up in her own bed probably saved her life."
Although she can't remember anything about the quake, the woman told Odberg that while under the rubble, she spent her time "reciting verses from the Quran, praying to God and thanking Allah for being alive."
Mazandarani said she is 97 and that her family died in the quake on Dec. 26. She gave the names of her two children and said she had two grandchildren. The Red Crescent is now trying to trace her extended family.
It is unusual for people to survive being buried in quake rubble for more than three days, but Odberg said Mazandarani's story sounded believable.
"The story that the rescue workers were told by her and what we found medically adds up," he said. "The frozen limbs she has can only be obtained by being in the same position for several days."
Odberg said it was possible the low metabolism customary among old people could have helped her endure with minimal sustenance for so long.
"There were remarkable coincidences that gave her the luck she needed to survive," he said.
Mazandarani's rescue was not the only bright spot in the aftermath of the Dec. 26 quake. On Saturday, U.S. doctors said they had delivered four babies at a makeshift hospital.
A situation report by the U.N. Disaster Assessment Coordination Team warned that many survivors were suffering from psychological disorders after the deaths of their loved ones and the destruction of their homes.
"Post-traumatic stress disorder is highly prevalent," the U.N. report said.
French and German aid groups were flying in a total of 130 psychologists and psychiatrists to counsel survivors, the U.N. report said. The Iranian Red Crescent Society has already deployed 40 women counselors to Bam.
The quake wrecked up to 85 per cent of Bam's houses and buildings, and tent camps with heating are being erected around the city, U.N. officials said. Up to now, the homeless have been living in unheated tents set up amid the ruins.
The United Nations plans within four days to complete an assessment of Bam's needs for water, sanitation, food and shelter - and officials then will present the data in an appeal to international donors.
At least five or six countries, including the United States, are working on the review.
| Did you do well in the market this year? |
|---|
|
| If so, then maybe you can afford to make a donation to Free Republic! |
Don't most 97-year-olds appear wrinkled.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.