Anchorage woman caught in Haiti earthquake loses foot to amputation

January 14, 2010|By Andrew Hinkelman | Channel 2 News

Christa Brelsford is recovering in a Miami hospital. (Pool feed via WTVJ-TV)

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — An Anchorage woman who was badly injured in Tuesday's earthquake in Haiti has had her right foot amputated.

Christa Brelsford's lower right leg was crushed by rubble from the 7.0 magnitude temblor that devastated the Haitian capital and has likely claimed tens -- perhaps hundreds -- of thousands of lives.

Brelsford was transported to a hospital in Miami on Wednesday where doctors were forced to amputate. On Thursday a remarkably upbeat Brelsford recounted her harrowing experience, which started in a two-story concrete building.

"I thought a truck had hit the building because I because if felt it shake and knew it wasn't a stable building," she said. "Julian (Christa's brother) made it all the way out of the house. He stopped in a metal-framed doorway so he wasn't badly hurt, but I slipped going down the stairs so my lower legs were crushed."

Julian Brelsford remains in Haiti. He suffered minor injuries and was not allowed on the same evac plane as Christa. The siblings were in the Caribbean nation volunteering in humanitarian aid efforts before the quake struck.

"First I wanted to get out of the house but when I realized my legs were trapped my second thought was to protect my head and neck," Christa said. "In Alaska they have earthquake drills every year and that's what they tell you to do, so that's what I did."

Initially Brelsford didn't think her legs were that badly hurt, but she was concerned about freeing them as quickly as possible to restore circulation.

"I didn't realize that my right leg had almost been completely cut off," she said. "As I could see it that I could see that it was disconnected, basically. There was still some stuff connecting it -- when I first saw it I thought it wasn't connected at all -- it was at a right angle to the rest of my leg so my brother put a tourniquet on."

Julian Brelsford, with some help from some Haitians, worked for about 90 minutes to free Christa's leg. They transported her on a motorcycle through Port-au-Prince, holding her like an infant, to an army base where she was tended to by soldiers from the Sri Lankan Army.

"When I got to the base they put me in a splint made from a fence post," Christa said.

On Wednesday Brelsford was medevaced to Miami where she received more complete treatment.

"I am so thankful to be alive," she said. "There are so many ways in the last two days that I could have been dead that I'm just thankful that I'm not. I am terribly sorry for those in Haiti, especially Haitians, who don't have the level of medical care that I'm getting."

Despite the emotional and physical trauma, Christa Brelsford was all smiles as she discussed her ordeal with reporters in Miami, even cracking a couple of jokes.

"You can either focus on the pain or you can focus on something else, and it's a lot easier to focus on what's good in life than what's not," she said. "There's not really any option. The world is what it is and I can either live with it or I can be mad about it.

"It's much more pleasant to enjoy it."

Watch MSNBC for the latest reports out of Haiti throughout the day. Channel 2 News and NBC Nightly News will have complete reports during the evening broadcasts.

Contact Andrew Hinkelman at ahinkelman@ktuu.com

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