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We decided that together with IHC and Christchurch City Council
we could do a joint project around...
supporting people with intellectual disabilities
in civil defence and how to get ready for another event should it happen
and we, we developed this earthquake group.
Kia ora, my name is Andrew from Christchurch, New Zealand.
My name is Chris and I'm from Christchurch.
Cam Scott, Disability Advisor Christchurch City Council.
My name's Michael and I live in Christchurch.
I'm Roseanne, I'm from Christchurch.
My name is Gary and I live in Christchurch, New Zealand.
In the second earthquake, in the 6.3
on the 22nd of February
in 2011 on Tuesday at 12:51
I was on the bus, on The Orbiter on Ilam Road.
I walked home, then suddenly I saw, I saw the trees swaying
the vibrations underneath the ground
and, and when it happened I had fallen over sideways
onto the ground
and then I saw a passerby come
to ask if I was okay
and then I walked home and I gave mum a cuddle.
I was inside a, a building, a five storey building
but I was on the third floor
which was really
really shaking, you know
like the build, the whole building was shaking.
We actually saw the old Jones' building which is next door
actually come down.
You're thinking okay you, you going, you going to be still alive?
Or is your whole house going to fall on top of you?
No but there was a massive...
I was sitting in the lounge when the earth, in my flat
which is somewhere over in Linwood
and, when it, when the earth started to move
our oven moved from one end of the, one end of the kitchen
the microwave fell off and a hole about the size of four golf balls
ah bricks (coughs) excuse me
flew through the wall and left a hole.
We waited until it stopped happening, it shaked, oh goodness
the ground was still shaking, that was awful really so I got upset
and the people from Hamills gave us jackets
and a lady gave us chocolates.
- That would have helped wouldn't it? - Yeah it did.
- Why did chocolate help? - 'Cause I was crying.
I needed some, something to comfort me.
Went into the red zone and...
seeing just buildings crumple like... like dirt just falling down.
Like where I am now there used to be a house here.
You, you see a building fall down just...crumbles and...
there's just so much blood and...
images like that it's just...
My first thoughts would have been
that I thought I was under all of the rubble and debris
and I thought I was one of the victims that died.
I was actually frightened that it was going to go on top of me.
The building, the concrete.
(sighs) So I was worried about Mum.
I was a bit shaken, yeah.
It took a while to sort of settle down
after we were out of the building.
The staff were very helpful.
They got us down the stairs quickly.
They managed to get us all out of the building
before the next shake occurred
but we were in Victoria Park when it shook again.
Ah they, they put us in Victoria Park for about an hour and a half
which was alright
and then when things settled down a wee bit
they took us to Hagley Park.
We were told that we may not go home that night.
We waited for about five hours
and then they took us over to where the garden place was
where they were going to have the Ellerslie Flower Show.
We were lined up in this building
to get identified and all that sort of thing.
And then once that was over we ah, sort of ah...
moved from there to where we had our meal
in the next room.
About half past 11 at night
they decided to shift us out
and bus us out to Burnside High School.
And by the time we got out there it was 12 o'clock.
And they, they had the gym was full of people
but they put us all in the gym
so there must have been about 200 people
in that gym overnight.
It was a fairly scary night because there was still shaking.
There was shaking every half an hour that night.
So it was...it was taken...
'til the next morning when, when it really settled down a bit.
The next morning they ah, we got up
but it was fairly early, it was about half past five
'cause no one could sleep.
It was a very unhealthy sleep night
'cause I don't think a lot of us slept that night.
So we were told to go and have breakfast
but it was a cold breakfast the first...
in the morning, the first morning
and they, they said that
there'd be another breakfast about 11 o'clock
'cause the army were coming in.
The staff stayed until the last person
was picked up.
We found out we were going to Auckland.
We ended up, thought we'd be about a few days
ended up being two weeks.
As you can see behind me there's no house, there's...
you just got to be ah, play the waiting game
and first in first served.
(sighs) I just wanted it all to get back to normal, really.
The challenge was, the challenge is
to, to get on with my life and the future
and build my life up and happiness...
We had an earthquake I mean, you can't do much about that
but to stand where we are now there's a bridge over...
I'm looking at now twisted in half
it's just heartbreaking.
I could not go swimming because of the venue.
Because where I go for swimming is over at Aqua Gym
and they had lots of water that came out of the swimming pool
and with the athletics track at QE2
it was munted and looked like a BMX track.
What amazed me compared to my able bodied friends
or, or so called normal friends
compared to say people in the disability community
these guys had a much better memory
of what the event meant to them, what the earthquake meant to them
what they were doing, what they were eating
down to the feelings that they had
and also that sense of loss and, and fear
and, and needing to belong.
After the 22nd when I came back home
I was having tea
and my brother rang me up from sydney we hadn't spoken in a long time...
so he said do you want to give me a hug.
I think, a lot of people
when I went out walking came up and talked to me.
You know, people wanted to talk
you know, 'cause it had been a shaky time.
And you know, how are you getting on, how are you surviving and all that
and then I had people come into my house
and wanted to talk to me about
how are you, do you need groceries or something like that
or a helping hand?
People are more helpful now than they have ever been.
'Cause tragedy makes them feel, feel they need people.
Yes, you get a sense of community and how that...
how everybody comes together and supports each other and...
it's all that environment of, togetherness I would say.
My friends have been closer to me
they give me hugs more, so does my Mum.
I suppose I've been through it now
and I, I understand it a lot more
and when we do get a shake
it's not as, not as effective, like it was.
So you feel like you can cope with things a little bit better?
What life throws at me, yep.
Things are getting back, getting back to normal slowly and...
we have even got a restart mall, a restart mall in town
which is all made out of shipping containers I think
and ah yeah.
It's amazing what, it's amazing what you can do with a container.
Going forward people with disabilities
just need to have an active role
in the rebuild of the central city and of Christchurch as a whole.