Brelsford family gradually recovering from Haiti earthquake

March 29, 2010

Christa Brelsford's parents, Taylor (left) and Terry Brelsford, have been helping her recover from losing part of a leg in January's Haiti earthquake. (Jonathan Hartford/KTUU-DT)

by Christine Kim
Sunday, March 28, 2010

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- More than two months after an earthquake left Haiti in ruins and also left one Alaskan family trying to recover, its members say the support they've received has helped with some recent milestones.

It's a moment a mother will always remember -- and Terry Brelsford got to see it for a second time.

"I got to watch her take her first step on March 9th," Brelsford said. "It reminded me of when she first took her first step, when she was about a year old."

Brelsford's daughter Christa, who was in Haiti with her brother Julian as a volunteer, lost part of her leg when a building collapsed during the January quake. Julian received only minor injuries, and explained during his trip back to Haiti how the concrete fell on his little sister's leg.

"And her other leg was trapped, like this," Julian said in a YouTube video, demonstrating Christa's position when she was found.

And that's when one of their Haitian friends, 18-year-old Wenson Georges, helped dig her out from underneath the rubble.

"So Christa's phrase is that, ‘He saved my life twice,'" said her father, Taylor Brelsford.

While Christa and Julian started a non-profit to provide long term support for Haiti's schools and teachers, the Brelsford family has a special way to say thanks to Georges.

"When Christa got to the States, the first thing she said just about was, ‘We've got to help Wenson get to the States and get an education," Terry said.

The family is planning for Georges to come to the Last Frontier in June to continue his schooling.

Meanwhile, Christa got her prosthetic leg and finished her final surgery last week. Her father says it took just over a week after she got her new leg to jump right back into her active lifestyle, joining a climbing expedition in Colorado.

"She's sitting down and pulled her snow pants up to show the fitting, the sleeve and all this stuff," Taylor said. "It's a teeny little aluminum leg, but then this big huge mounted boot and mountain-climbing boot and crampons. She's pretty proud about all of that -- she's pretty excited."

The Brelsfords says there's a lot of good that can come out of a tragedy like this, and it's important to keep moving forward -- one step at a time.

Contact Christine Kim at ckim@ktuu.com

|

|

|