What Being Trapped for 5 days in the Rubble of an Earthquake that Took My Family Taught Me About Survival and Life’s Blessings
In late January 2001, Viral Dalal went to visit his family at the apartment his father had rented while working in Bhuj, Western India. Viral’s father had planned a family trip to a local beach resort. Devastatingly, Bhuj was the epicenter of an earthquake that caused this trip never to be realized and killed more than 20,000 people.
At 8:45 am on January 26th, Viral was still in bed while his father, mother, brother, sister-in-law and two-year-old nephew were up and about in the apartment. Suddenly, Viral heard a noise that sounded like thunder. He looked outside and saw darkness; he could not figure out what the noise was. As he tried to kick his comforter off him, he felt the earth shake and furniture started rattling. Before he could get out of bed, the furniture became airborne 8-10 inches off the floor. This was the just start of an earthquake that measured 7.7-7.9 on the Richter scale and lasted 1.5 to 2 minutes.
The rattling sensation caused the bed to become airborne, which rendered Viral with no control over his body. He could hear the deafening roar from underneath the ground, the utensils in the kitchen crashing to the floor and his mother screaming. He looked up and saw the blades of the ceiling fan touching the ceiling and was sure the dangling fan would fall on his head. A 6-8 inch crack appeared in the ceiling and steel rods, once embedded in the concrete ceiling, became exposed. Viral tried to move but could not get off the bed. Plaster and concrete started to drop from the ceiling and the room went dark. This was only still only 5-7 seconds after the earthquake started. A few seconds later, the eight-story building started to collapse and fall to the side. The rented apartment was on the second floor. As the building crashed down, Viral braced his body for the impact. He felt as if he was falling through a tunnel as he fell to the ground. The shaking continued for another minute.
Viral was now enclosed in a small space, no larger than a coffin; the fallen ceiling was two inches from his forehead. He had no injuries but had no room to move. He shouted for help but the concrete muffled his voice. He thought this must be a nightmare as only a few minutes prior he had heard his family’s voices. Viral knew he must figure out a way to survive, to see his family.
Viral was wearing a wristwatch that his father had given to him on his previous birthday. The watch had an iridium blue light that Viral used to light up the small confined space in which he was trapped. He saw no way out. Concerned about a lack of oxygen, he restricted himself to one breath every twenty seconds. Using the light of the wristwatch, he found a strip of aluminum, part of a broken electrical fitting on the wall. He tried to scratch a hole in the wall, but to no avail. Luckily, sufficient oxygen would continue to reach him until his rescue…five days later.
Throughout the five days, Viral’s primary thoughts were about his family’s safety; his only hope was to see them again. He was disconnected from the entire world…not even an insect knew of his existence. Deprived off food and water, he forced himself to become mentally strong, telling himself such things were bad and unnecessary. Thus, he didn’t feel hungry or thirsty. To keep himself alive, he drank his own urine, which then became recycled urine. With the light of the wristwatch, he had also found a plastic electrical fitting. It was cup-shaped and had a hole in the bottom through which electrical wires normally pass. Viral blocked the hole of this fitting with his finger and used it as a receptacle to collect his urine. He estimated he could survive like this for eight days.
On the fifth day, the rescuers were clearing the rubble when Viral’s voice was heard. A Scottish volunteer team from the International Rescue Corps came at 3 pm that day. They could not pinpoint his exact location, so Viral told them whether the tapping sounds the rescuers made seemed to be coming from above or below him. The rescuers put supports above and below the slabs of the pancaked structure to prevent collapse and retrieved Viral through a small hole. The rescuers were concerned he was dehydrated, but Viral could only think of his family. At the insistence of the rescuers, Viral went to hospital but returned only 30 minutes later to help locate his family. He drew sketches in the dirt that detailed the layout of the apartment and indicated where he thought his family members were when the earthquake started.
Viral did not know that his brother’s body had already been found. Over the next four days, they found the bodies of his sister-in-law, nephew, father and mother. Viral felt as if his life was over. He returned to the family home in Ahmedabad, a four bedroom house, now empty. Two months later, he was still trying to reconcile what happened. He could no longer face looking at photos of his family. The missing smiles of his loving family in the photos made Viral realize he was doing something wrong with his life. He needed to stand up and finish the collective dreams of his family.
Viral’s father was looking forward to the day his son completed his Master’s in Computer Science at Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey. Eight months after the earthquake, Viral returned to the US and resumed his studies. He made a decision to move his life forward; he would sometimes have slip ups, but he never gave up. Viral is now married, with a 5-year-old son and a 2-year-old daughter. This would never have been possible if he had not chosen to live life again.
Viral recently joined the Red Cross as a volunteer. He wants to share a message with other victims of natural disasters. The message is “choice”, “choosing light over darkness” and “live in the present.” Viral says, “People go through different things in life. If you go through darkness, it is then your choice to choose light. You can remember the past, but you do not have to become stuck by it. By being trapped for five days and losing my family, I learned that happiness is within myself and under my control. Life is beautiful, but sometimes you do not see how blessed you are until tragedy happens.”
Viral was now enclosed in a small space, no larger than a coffin; the fallen ceiling was two inches from his forehead. He had no injuries but had no room to move. He shouted for help but the concrete muffled his voice. He thought this must be a nightmare as only a few minutes prior he had heard his family’s voices. Viral knew he must figure out a way to survive, to see his family.
Viral was wearing a wristwatch that his father had given to him on his previous birthday. The watch had an iridium blue light that Viral used to light up the small confined space in which he was trapped. He saw no way out. Concerned about a lack of oxygen, he restricted himself to one breath every twenty seconds. Using the light of the wristwatch, he found a strip of aluminum, part of a broken electrical fitting on the wall. He tried to scratch a hole in the wall, but to no avail. Luckily, sufficient oxygen would continue to reach him until his rescue…five days later.Throughout the five days, Viral’s primary thoughts were about his family’s safety; his only hope was to see them again. He was disconnected from the entire world…not even an insect knew of his existence. Deprived off food and water, he forced himself to become mentally strong, telling himself such things were bad and unnecessary. Thus, he didn’t feel hungry or thirsty. To keep himself alive, he drank his own urine, which then became recycled urine. With the light of the wristwatch, he had also found a plastic electrical fitting. It was cup-shaped and had a hole in the bottom through which electrical wires normally pass. Viral blocked the hole of this fitting with his finger and used it as a receptacle to collect his urine. He estimated he could survive like this for eight days.
On the fifth day, the rescuers were clearing the rubble when Viral’s voice was heard. A Scottish volunteer team from the International Rescue Corps came at 3 pm that day. They could not pinpoint his exact location, so Viral told them whether the tapping sounds the rescuers made seemed to be coming from above or below him. The rescuers put supports above and below the slabs of the pancaked structure to prevent collapse and retrieved Viral through a small hole. The rescuers were concerned he was dehydrated, but Viral could only think of his family. At the insistence of the rescuers, Viral went to hospital but returned only 30 minutes later to help locate his family. He drew sketches in the dirt that detailed the layout of the apartment and indicated where he thought his family members were when the earthquake started.
Viral did not know that his brother’s body had already been found. Over the next four days, they found the bodies of his sister-in-law, nephew, father and mother. Viral felt as if his life was over. He returned to the family home in Ahmedabad, a four bedroom house, now empty. Two months later, he was still trying to reconcile what happened. He could no longer face looking at photos of his family. The missing smiles of his loving family in the photos made Viral realize he was doing something wrong with his life. He needed to stand up and finish the collective dreams of his family.
Viral’s father was looking forward to the day his son completed his Master’s in Computer Science at Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey. Eight months after the earthquake, Viral returned to the US and resumed his studies. He made a decision to move his life forward; he would sometimes have slip ups, but he never gave up. Viral is now married, with a 5-year-old son and a 2-year-old daughter. This would never have been possible if he had not chosen to live life again.
Viral recently joined the Red Cross as a volunteer. He wants to share a message with other victims of natural disasters. The message is “choice”, “choosing light over darkness” and “live in the present.” Viral says, “People go through different things in life. If you go through darkness, it is then your choice to choose light. You can remember the past, but you do not have to become stuck by it. By being trapped for five days and losing my family, I learned that happiness is within myself and under my control. Life is beautiful, but sometimes you do not see how blessed you are until tragedy happens.”
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