Haiti firefighter gets hero's welcome
Local hero Simon Cording told boys at Altrincham Preparatory School that his 10 day search for survivors in earthquake devastated Haiti should only be the start of the international rescue mission.
Simon was thanking the boys for their donation of £1313 for a sponsored silence to raise money for the Haiti appeal and took a question and answer session from APS's senior boys.
Simon said: "Imagine a city the size of Manchester and then some completely devastated, with every building obliterated, then you will understand, that the search and rescue mission is only phase one of what Haiti's now needs." Currently based at the Stretford fire station, Simon has worked in all three of Trafford's fire stations over the last 15 years.
He explained that as a volunteer for Urban Search and Rescue in the UK, he was notified of the need for imminent departure by text message and that he was on the road with nine other volunteer fire fighters from Manchester just three hours after the earthquake hit, arriving in Haiti just 24 hours later. There were 64 fire fighters from the U.K. and a total of 1800 flocking to the country from across the globe. "Working with other crews from the USA, Mexico, Canada, France - indeed all over the world we would categorise areas for search so we could systematically work our way through the destruction to ensure no area was left uncovered."
Simon said: "We took part in two successful searches. One for a two-year-girl called Mia and another for a 39-year-old woman. It took us four hours, using a trowel, pick axes and metal bar levers to free the little girl and when we found her there were five more children around her, but they had all died."
He added: "You don't let it affect you. You concentrate on working as a team, you eat together, sleep together and resolve your issues together. I am proud of what we achieved out there, but it really is only the beginning," he said.
The little girl Mia was brought back to dance for the British rescue team just 24 hours later by an ITN camera crew with pictures of Simon beamed back to Britain with what appeared to be a tear in his eye. "It might have looked that way," he told the boys, "but honestly I had just got something caught in my eye," said Simon.
Every boy in the senior class had a host of questions for Simon, who was quizzed relentlessly about his experience: what they all ate and drank, the hours of work, and the dangers of after shocks.
He said: "There were eight more after shocks and one more earthquake coming at about 6.30 in the morning."
Simon then rattled a school desk to imitate the sensation, adding: "It was certainly something that stopped you talking and it took about three or four seconds to realise just what was happening."
APS Headmaster Mr Andrew Potts said: "Simon is clearly the sort of professional one would want working under such extreme conditions and his visit dramatically highlighted the continuing need to support the next phase of reconstruction in Haiti."
