Pakistan earthquake - 3 years on
08/10/2008
Three years ago today, a 7.6 magnitude earthquake devastated vast areas of the Pakistani province Jammu Kashmir.
In the first weeks and months after the disaster, which killed and injured tens of thousands of people and caused considerable damage to infrastructure, state, local and international aid organisations were faced with an enormous logistical challenge.
SOS Children helped by providing food and material aid (tents, mattresses, blankets, building materials and water) and, named as the custodian of all unaccompanied children by Pakistan and Kashmir governments, provided refuge for abandoned children, ran reunification programmes and took responsibility for lone children in the long-term.
Since the disaster, many children have been reunited with their families and 224 children who were orphaned as a result have found a new home at SOS Children facilities in Lahore, Rawalpindi, Sialkot, Dhodial and Faisalabad. The town of Muzaffarabad and its surroundings were hit particularly hard by the earthquake, and the reconstruction of schools, health facilities, houses and administration buildings has been progressing slowly.
Ferastat is just one child who found a new home and family after his parents were killed in the earthquake.
Ferastat's story
When the earthquake struck, seven-year-old Ferasat was unable to escape quickly from his family home in Bagh. Since his birth, Ferasat has suffered from deformities to his hips, knees and feet, and had never been able to walk. Thankfully, Ferasat was pulled safely from the rubble, but sadly his parents and three of his nine siblings were killed.
Together with his grandmother and six siblings, Ferasat was among the first survivors to arrive at SOS Children’s emergency relief shelter Rawalpindi. Although his doctors' reports had insisted that Ferasat would never be able to walk, SOS Children insisted on getting a second opinion.
On 20 November 2005, Ferasat and his siblings moved into their new home at the SOS Children’s Village in Lahore. A few days later, Ferasat underwent surgery which was provided free-of-cost by the Ittefaq Hospital Trust and his legs were straightened.
In February 2006, the day came when Ferasat was capable of standing up with the help of braces and crutches. And today, following intensive physiotherapy, Ferasat is now walking all around the SOS Children’s Village in Lahore with his crutches. In a few months, he will be fitted with special braces which means he won't need his crutches anymore.
When asked what he wished to do when freed of his crutches and braces, Ferasat said: “I want to walk to school with my brothers and sisters.”