Boy hurt in California quake: 'I should be dead'
DAVIS, Calif. (AP) —
Thirteen-year-old Nicholas Dillon's screams could be heard throughout
his pitch black house when the earth shook and the falling bricks hit
him. His mother, who later called it the worst night of her life,
couldn't get to him.
"I should be
dead," said Nicholas, whose pelvis was broken in several places when
part of a chimney collapsed on him in the magnitude-6.0 earthquake that
struck California wine country. He spoke Tuesday to the San Francisco
Chronicle from his hospital bed.
"I thought I was paralyzed," he said. "I couldn't feel my legs. I couldn't feel my back.
Nicholas
was having a sleepover with a friend, who wasn't hurt, and had pulled a
mattress into the living room to sleep. At 3:20 a.m. Sunday, the
shaking started.
"I felt the
first jolt of the earthquake and I spun around and yelled my friend's
name four times," Nicholas said. "The chimney collapsed on my back and I
stumped a little forward on the floor. I was lying there. I was
screaming my mom's name and she fell twice trying to get to me."
His mother, Catalina Dillon, said she was petrified.
"It
was the worst night of my life," she said. "When I heard him screaming
and yelling and I couldn't reach him and couldn't see where he was," she
told the Chronicle. "I was so scared."Nicholas said he thinks he escaped greater injury or death because he tried scooting toward the door when the shaking started.
"If I hadn't moved, I'm telling you, I shouldn't be here right now," he said. "I didn't black out. I remember the whole thing."
With
phones out, his grandfather ran to a fire station and paramedics
eventually came to take him to a local hospital before he was flown to
University of California, Davis Children's Hospital, where he underwent
nearly 10 hours of surgery.
He's
now listed in fair condition, and doctors say it will be five to six
months before he can put weight on his legs, though his goal is to walk
in four.
His mother said the family lost its home during the recent recession and was worried about how they would pay his medical bills.
But Nicholas said he'll try to stay optimistic.
"I'm
still a little scared," he said. "I really don't know what to expect.
Either way I will stay on top of things. I'm not going to worry about it
because it's not going to help me out if I start being negative and
start worrying about it. ... I'm not going to let it get to me. I'm just
not."
Original post found here:
Post a Comment