Haitian earthquake survivor reunites with Fairfax County rescuers

By Gregg MacDonald, Fairfax County Times

Thursday, October 14, 2010
When a massive 7.0 earthquake hit Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on Jan. 12, James Gulley was buried alive as the hotel he was in instantly became a pile of crumbled concrete.
A vaulted concrete ceiling had fallen, trapping him inside an 8-foot-by-8-foot portion, where he prayed he would be found.
Fifty-five hours later, Gulley was discovered alive by a rescue team that included members of the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue squad.
On Oct. 5, Gulley traveled to Fairfax County and was reunited with three of his rescuers.
During a presentation at Fairfax United Methodist Church in Fairfax City, Gulley related his ordeal as the rescue workers sat in the audience, listening intently to the story of the man whose life they helped save.
Gulley, 64, is a Colorado missionary who specializes in sustainable agriculture practices. He has a doctorate in international relations.
Gulley was in Haiti as part of a three-person team from the Board of Global Ministries, part of the United Methodist Church. He and two Methodist reverends, Sam Dixon and Clint Rabb, were on their way to a meeting addressing medical and agricultural services in the Montana Hotel when the earthquake hit.
"There was no time to think," Gulley said. "The floor came up, and then the ceiling came down, all within seconds. The sensation was somewhat like being on a high-speed roller coaster."
Gulley said he fell behind a large wooden reservation desk that took the brunt of the ceiling's force when it fell.
"After a few minutes, I could see that Sam and Clint were in the same chamber with me," Gulley said. "They both told me that their legs were broken. Sam's legs were actually crushed under the weight of fallen concrete pillars. He was in a lot of pain." Gulley said two other people, Sarla Chand and Rick Santos of Interchurch Medical Assistance, also were under the same ceiling section.
"I immediately checked my cellphone but had no signal," Gulley said. "None of us did."
The five had no choice but to await rescue efforts as days went by. For food, they shared one Tootsie-Roll Pop. For water, each person drank his own urine, Gulley said.
"Everyone prayed," he said.

After 55 hours, rescuers arrived and began digging the group out, cutting through the concrete with heavy equipment. Gulley, Chand and Santos were pulled out alive. Dixon and Rabb did not survive.
Among the rescuers were William Thurston and William Moreland of the Fairfax County Urban Search and Rescue Team.
"We were part of Blue Squad One that helped the French team recover survivors from the Montana Hotel," Thurston said.
"It's not something I will ever forget," Moreland said.
At Fairfax United Methodist Church, Gulley was reunited with Thurston and Moreland, along with their chief, Bob Zoldos, who was administratively involved in the rescue.
"I am eternally grateful to these gentlemen," Gulley said. "It was really humbling to see these young men risking their lives to save others. They were risking just as much as anyone else in the aftermath of that horrendous earthquake. Several aftershocks occurred, but these guys just kept going, rescuing the lives of others."
Today, through the United Methodist Committee on Relief, Gulley is again attempting to teach Haitians sustainable agriculture practices. He has been back to Haiti several times since the January earthquake and plans on returning again.
"It is amazing to think how many more people's lives may be saved by the fact that this one man survived the earthquake," Zoldos said.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/13/AR2010101302953_2.html