Miracle?

Miracle? - A nearly-100-year-old woman was pulled from the rubble in Bam, Iran today - nine days after the catastrophic earthquake:

"For nearly nine days after an earthquake demolished her city, 97-year-old Sharbanou Mazandarani lay trapped under furniture and crumbled masonry, passing fear-filled days and cold nights with death all around.

But with nearly a century of life behind her, Mazandarani was not ready to give up. And on Saturday, elated rescuers pulled her out of the rubble alive - and amazingly, unhurt.

'God kept me alive,' the petite, wrinkled Mazandarani said as she lay on a bed in a makeshift hospital in Bam, covered to her chin with a blue blanket and a brown print scarf tied around her head.

Rescuers said she asked for a cup of tea soon after her rescue - and then complained it was too hot to drink.

Of course, the official line is, this just isn't possible:

Normally people can survive up to three days in the rubble of an earthquake. It was unclear whether Mazandarani had food or water while she lay trapped under the ruins."

So - after every major disaster, the "authorities" officially give up hope of survivors, and switch to "Recovery" mode, after about three days. They always - invariably, after every earthquake - that it's impossible for anyone to have survived more than 72 hours.

And, it seems, after nearly every major earthquake, there is a story like this; an unlikely, miraculous life snatched from the jaws of death story.

And it happens so regularly - 5, 7, 9 days or even more after earthquakes - that one wonders why officials continue declaring life impossible after three piddly days.

The human body is a miraculous thing. The human spirit, moreso. Humans have survived the damnedest things; the examples are both many and inspiring. The ones I remember:

• Poon Lim, a mechanic on a ship torpedoed in 1942, who survived for over four months on a life raft. Completely impossible, of course.
• After the 1999 Turkish earthquakes, people - as in, groups of people - were being pulled alive from the rubble over four days later.
• The Shackelton Expedition, which stayed alive for two years on the Antarctic ice, and then on two improbably successful over-ocean voyages in lifeboats

I could go on - and on.

The lesson? The authorities care less about life than process. Ignore them. Keep digging.

Posted by Mitch at January 3, 2004 09:34 PM