Strong as steel

MANILA, Philippines – The Yolanda (Haiyan) death toll has risen to about 4,000. Despite this, there are tens of thousands inspiring stories of survival. Rosemarie Villablanca is among them.

The winds were howling, tin roofs flying, and the storm surge engulfing town after town, when the wall of their two-story home collapsed. The Villablancas—Rosemarie and her husband, their five children, plus two elderly relatives—were huddled inside their house.

Rosemarie’s 8-year-old child screamed, “Mama! Mama!”

The concrete wall fell on Rosemarie. When her husband pulled her out of the rubble, she shivered and felt cold. “I thought I was going to die.”

Her leg was broken. But not her spirit.

When the storm passed, Rosemarie was rushed to the town hall, where two doctors were attending to the wounded. But there were hundreds injured – and the doctors were Yolanda survivors themselves. They also had to attend to their respective families.

For two days, Rosemarie received no medical attention. For two days, she was in pain. She says her foot began to smell. The strange scent of death and decay had already permeated the air. Fearing the worst, they decided to go to the ruined Tacloban airport to get a ride on the military’s C-130 to Manila.

Rosemarie is now at the charity ward of the Philippine Orthopedic Center, where she underwent operation for her fractured leg.

“Her leg is now an inch shorter,” says Ron, Rosemarie’s eldest son, who works as a call center agent in Makati.

Needing two more operations to install metal braces on her leg, Rosemarie may spend a month in the hospital. Their medical expenses are already piling up.

Yolanda has practically flattened the whole of Tacloban, turning almost everything into piles of rubble – the Villablanca home included. It may take years for the province to rebuild and recover. But for Rosemarie and the Villablancas, along with many other survivors who weathered the storm, they are determined to rebuild their lives.

“Thank God, I’m alive.” – Rappler.com