Indonesia rescuers given quake mission air fare refund

Oct 11 2009 by Coreena Ford, Sunday Sun

At least 180,000 buildings were toppled or damaged and landslides swept away entire villages in the hills.

The IRC squad have been lending their expertise in disasters like the Indonesian quake for many years, and have around 12 volunteers in the North ready to drop everything and fly out to give support.

Tony Conner, 46, who moved to Blyth three weeks ago from Hartlepool, Teesside, was on his first overseas mission in Padang having fully qualified two weeks ago.

The dad-of-two, who is a senior nursing lecturer at Northumbria University, said they found no survivors but made a great contribution to the local community by helping with aid work, advising authorities how to help the locals rebuild their lives.

Tony said: “People call us heroes but we’re not. The real heroes are the people we leave behind.

“Over here it would be a case of ‘woe is me’ but we were there two, maybe three days after the earthquake struck and they were all just getting on with their lives even though they have lost loved ones and have no food or water.

“Children were running around in the street everywhere we went, and all the people we met were lovely, thanking us for going out there to help them.

“I’ve got two daughters who were very worried for me – they said they would never forgive me if I died abroad. As a nurse, I just wish I could have stayed longer to help more.”

To make a donation to the charity visit www.justgiving.com/irc.