COMMENTARY: Helping others

An ER RN, Jen is a member of Aerial Recovery, a 501 (3) C nonprofit group seriously trained in rescue techniques. It was formed by elite retired military veterans. The teams go in to help with disasters, usually first on the ground within 24 hours.

She’s been in Honduras and helped after hurricane Ian. An Army “brat” she’s traveled extensively all her life, but now there is a new purpose, helping others.

They carried in everything, supplies and necessities, rented vehicles in Ankara, Turkey and set out at 11 o’clock at night. They stopped in Karamanas and did recon as to what needs were.

They helped dig at a huge mound of rubble, but there were only bodies to be found.

From there they went to Gaziantep, staying in an undamaged hotel, and they drove daily to Antioch.

“It was like a war zone,” she says. In Antioch, there was nothing that wasn’t a pile of rubble or what was standing that needed to be brought down it was so perilous.

They worked with a team from France, Goodsons rescue out of Ardmore, Oklahoma and Turkish teams.

They worked frantically at two sites because there were heat signatures from the thermal imagers. Sadly, by the time the backhoes and jackhammers were able to work through multiple stories of rubble, it was too late.

It was cold, 40s in the day with temperatures going as low as 14 degrees at night.

The refugee camps were so inadequate, with 600 tents and only four toilets.

Assisting Turkish teams, she and her group recovered a 19 year old pregnant mom and her 3-year-old daughter. She wrapped the child in a Mylar blanket as others got the mother on a backboard. As always, surrounded by so many people, there were many hands to pass the victims overhead to the ambulance. This time they were in such a rush and so joyful they didn’t get time to secure the woman. Jen watched in fear as the woman came close to falling off, but she arrived on the ground safely.

She spoke with people buried in the ruins for several days. When freed, as soon as possible, they began helping in recovering others.

One thing that really moved Jen emotionally was how grateful people were. They were constantly asked where they were from. And the people were amazed that Americans had come so far to work so hard to help. People who had lost everything and were in tents would try and share their hot tea and even food with them in gratitude.

“Rescue workers from the US, China, France, Israel, Germany, England, just everywhere, were on hand to help,” she affirms. “It was beautiful, everyone was united in a common cause. And then I was struck that it was also very sad that it took a tragedy of this magnitude to bring this love and cooperation about.”

“I was struck one day by a woman in a village standing in front of her home. Everything and everyone was gone, reduced to nothing. She was crying and praying to Allah. I was so heartbroken for her that I went over and wrapped her in my arms. There we were, she praying to her God and I praying to my God, weeping together,” she reported to me. The emotion of that moment was clear in her voice.

And it’s probably one of the reasons she’s returning to continue her work as so many other quiet heroes are doing.

I asked her what people could do and she stressed that donations to reputable organizations were going to be needed for a long time.

It’s a job that can take a hard toll on the human mind and body. It takes a certain type of person to deal with it. All I can say is that I’m so proud of her and all who go worldwide to help others affected by man-made or natural disasters.