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Post by londoner on Nov 24, 2010 4:18:32 GMT -5
Condolences to all our Kiwi friends
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Post by Cornish Terrier on Nov 24, 2010 5:46:00 GMT -5
I echo those thoughts. I had not seen the News for a couple of days so was unaware of the current situation over there but have now checked the updates. Under different circumstances I was called out myself today to assist in the search for a missing elderly man who has still not been found. But until each of these missing people is located there must still be some glimmer of hope.
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Post by tonymitch on Nov 24, 2010 8:27:26 GMT -5
I too would like to be associated with these sentiments.
Almost 100 years ago on 21st December 1910 the town in Lancashire where I was born suffered a mining disaster and I believe there were more than 300 men and boys killed by a massive explosion. My maternal grandfather was working at that mine and took part in the abortive rescue and eventual recovery of the bodies. I was born almost 40 years after the event but recall its legacy. I was at school with a boy whose grandfather had been killed in the disaster and we all knew about it. People in the 1960s still talked about the Pretoria Mine disaster in hushed reverential tones. Mine disasters such as these leave an emotional scar in the society in which they occurred long after the event. Only 3 people survived the explosion and the last survivor died in the 1950s.
My thoughts and prayers are with those who are lost and their grieving families.
Tony M
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Post by marychown on Nov 24, 2010 10:01:43 GMT -5
My condolences and prayers for the loved ones and families of all those who perished too. What a terrible tragedy!
Mary
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Post by Deleted on Feb 21, 2011 19:42:36 GMT -5
God help us but here we go again - buildings on the ground, hillsides collapsed, Christchurch has come to a standstill again - my men in their trucks are yelling over the radio telephones, people are screaming, crying and looking absolutely mesmerised - it's a mess - and somewhere in the middle of it all is my daughter looking for her cat, oh dear oh dear
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Post by Cornish Terrier on Feb 22, 2011 1:24:31 GMT -5
Crikey Lannanta - as if enough was not enough already! I can empathise and hope but unfortunately that is about all I can do. And I certainly hope your daughter finds her way home safe and well ........... and with the cat! CT
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Post by Sarch on Feb 22, 2011 3:08:28 GMT -5
Re Christchurch Terrible news to wake up to this morning
Hope rescue workers manage to get to all the trapped people.
Sarch
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Post by londoner on Feb 22, 2011 4:39:10 GMT -5
Thinking of you all. x
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Post by sue on Feb 22, 2011 5:21:24 GMT -5
My heart goes out to you.
Sue
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Post by marychown on Feb 22, 2011 8:15:03 GMT -5
What a truly terrible thing to have happened! Do hope that all NZ members and their loved ones are safe and well.
Mary
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Post by tonymitch on Feb 22, 2011 19:21:02 GMT -5
I too am thinking of you all and praying.
Tony M
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Post by Deleted on Feb 25, 2011 2:23:20 GMT -5
So the ordeal goes on and as the days pass we get more and more prepared to accept a fatality figure that in normal times would be incomprehensible. For my part I am lucky enough to still have my daughter and she her cat. No sign of my brother yet but we are hopeful of him not being in the city.
We, like many others, have a house full of refugees and a much greater understanding of how little value is financial wealth - who would ever have believed that people in Christchurch would be standing at their gates waiting for nothing more than a bottle of water and then there is the ordeal of all those other basic functions of life that were taken for granted only a few days ago.
We pride ourselves on being Kiwis but from all over the world - Australia, UK, Japan, China USA etc - come people to risk their lives and help us find our people albeit sometimes it is just their shattered bodies.
So much raw emotion and I am thankful that even on this forum there is the opportunity to vent it and release some of the pressure.
Lannanta
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Post by tonymitch on Feb 25, 2011 6:04:49 GMT -5
Wish I could be there to help, but obviously I can't. The only thing I can do apart from remembering you all in my prayers is lend a listening ear which on a web site looks like silence. You can't hear my positive encouraging interjections, but believe me they are there.
I'm sure I speak for more than one person on this site when I say we are all with you..."Onen hag oll"
Tony M
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Post by Cornish Terrier on Feb 25, 2011 7:03:28 GMT -5
The old Louis Armstrong song might have a new title - 'What a Horrible World!' But I won't dwell on the negatives here as I am sure too many are doing that already. That such devastation has occurred .... yet again .... is almost incomprehensible. Lannanta has his daughter (and her cat) safe and well but now we await news of his brother who I sincerely hope will be on the phone very shortly to shout him a beer! Let's hope like hell that the two are sharing a Pint or three very soon! Although the closest neighbour I have to say that I am extremely proud of the speed and commitment shown by the Australian Government to get our people on the ground in Christchurch so soon and with what appears on the news to have been such immediate effect. The Kiwis helped us out big time during some of our biggest Victorian bushfires and Aussies heading to New Zealand to help out shows that the ANZAC spirit is well and truly alive. I think Lannanta is pretty well known to many of our members but we have at least one other member from the Christchurch area who would not be known to most unless they read the threads relating to the Russian Trewheler family. NZJohn1 sent me an email that I only belatedly got to read about an hour ago which was about 14 hours after it was received. He and his wife were in the City when the 'quake struck and his message has a tale to tell. This message begins 'written partly on Tuesday evening 5 hours after the shock' and (thankfully) begins with the news that he and his wife are okay. There follows some description of the damage including the fact that NZJohn1 was in the basement of the Museum at the time with both the Museum and the Arts Centre being damaged. His wife had parked the car very close to a 2 metre high brick wall yet when the 'quake struck the entire wall fell the other way and the car was undamaged! And they met two visiting Welsh geologists who were due to leave NZ only a few hours later! I guess they will have a tale or two to tell when they get home to Llanfair... golgolgol..... (or whatever the name of the place is) and have a story to tell that is longer than the name of the town itself! To Lannanta and NZJohn1 and their families as well as all of our other Kiwi members - Keep the chins up, keep hold of the ANZAC spirit ........... and keep that Cornish blood flowing 'cos in all of that I reckon there is an ounce or two of toughness that will help you through! And if I might quote from Monty Python's 'Life of Brian' without being seen to be insensitve - Always Look on the Bright Side of Life We are hear for you and you have my email address if you want to just ramble and let it all out. CT
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Post by londoner on Feb 25, 2011 9:58:40 GMT -5
I think between them Tony & CT have said it all. I'll just say - from me too..
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