October 2007

DCs rush to aid victims of Peru earthquake

by Dr. Michael Sontheimer

Shortly after 6 p.m., the windows in the house began to rattle. I was adjusting a patient but at first, we thought nothing of it. I live in Peru; this is common. I have felt dozens of tremors over the past years and some rather strong.

It took only a moment for us to realize that this was different. This was no tremor. After a few seconds it got a lot stronger. The adjusting room opens out to a garden in the back of the house. I told the young man on the table he was welcome to come outside with me.

As I went into the garden and looked up at the house, I could see it swaying. All the other buildings in the neighborhood were doing the same. In fact, most of the buildings in the entire country were swaying.

I realized we needed to be further away in case the place collapsed, so we briskly walked through the house and out the front door. That is when the scene took on an even more surreal feeling. I was outside with about 10 patients who had been in the waiting room. The street began to fill as the houses and businesses emptied.

People were crying, screaming, wailing and hugging their loved ones. Others were on their knees praying. As I stood there I felt I was on a boat in very rough water. I looked up the street and could see it moving up and down like an ocean wave.

I wondered if this would ever stop and actually expected the earth to open up like in the movies. For more than two minutes, the street, houses, offices, telephone poles, all continued to sway while we watched frozen in fear.

Finally, the ground under our feet stilled once again and we knew we had just experienced a major earthquake. Only later did we learn that it registered 7.9 on the Richter scale, with the epicenter located a few hours by car from Lima, the country's capital.

Third world countries suffer from a variety of problems that we're not accustomed to in the United States. The infrastructure is simply not prepared to handle events of this kind. Immediately the phone system collapsed due to the volume of calls. People had to race to their homes to find out if any of their loved ones were injured or if their homes were even still standing.

Fortunately, Lima was spared major structural damage on a large scale. However, further south, near the epicenter, the picture was much bleaker.

Entire towns were leveled and people were buried in the rubble. Phones were down and there was no water or electricity.

Poor, hungry, and desperate people took the opportunity for theft and looting beyond comprehension. To add to the chaos, two large prisons collapsed and inmates had escaped.

But just as these disasters bring out the worst in some, they bring out the best in many others. I'm proud to say that many chiropractors were among those who offered speedy help and support.

Two days after the quake, five other chiropractors and I ‑‑ all members of the Peruvian Chiropractic Alliance, a World Chiropractic Alliance affiliate ‑‑ loaded our cars with food, water, diapers, clothing and chiropractic adjusting tables and traveled south to where the people were in dire need.

We were on our way from Chincha to a town called Pisco about three hours south of Lima when we noticed that traffic was backed up on the Panamerican Highway. The reason was a severely damaged bridge.

People in the area ‑‑ most of whom were hungry, thirsty and without what little bit of material goods they had owned ‑‑ saw the trucks and cars full of much‑needed supplies. Understandably, they were upset when they saw us continuing south without stopping to give them any of the much‑needed goods.

Mob mentality set in and the situation became dangerous. There were hordes of people and only a handful of police officers. The people were breaking windows and stealing whatever they could grab out of cars. Large trucks and buses loaded with supplies were robbed.

We turned our cars around and sped away as quickly as possible, heading back north toward Chincha. It was a very scary ordeal and we were fortunate to have left before things escalated even more.

On the way back north, we saw a small park‑like area where people were camping out. We learned that all the houses in the nearby small town had fallen down and these people, with the few personal belongings they managed to salvage, were forced to brave the elements while they waited for aid to arrive. There was no guarantee that the aid would arrive though. There simply is no system with enough money and organization to help all in need.

We parked the cars right there on the highway, got out and did our part. Many of the people had cuts, scrapes, bruises etc. and, although we, as chiropractors, could not render emergency care or trauma management, we are also caring human beings with knowledge of the human body and an understanding of human suffering.

So, we set up tables and while some of us were adjusting the people, others were making sandwiches and distributing supplies. Being in the midst of so much pain and suffering is a chilling experience, yet it feels wonderful to help people, to receive their thanks and see and feel the gratitude in their hugs and handshakes.

Sadly, no matter how many people you help, you always feel that there is more that can be done.

I'm telling you all this for two reasons. First, to let you know first‑hand what happened here. Second, to share with you my pride that, in situations such as this, the chiropractic profession rises up to lend what help it can to decrease the suffering of those in need.

Finally, I want to give you the opportunity to feel sympathy, love and hope for those less fortunate by helping the people in Peru whose lives were so suddenly disrupted by this natural disaster.

As you read this account, a goodly amount of time will have passed since the earthquake. But it will be more months before the damage is cleaned up, even years in some areas.

If you have been moved in any way by this account of human suffering and would like to share your abundance with those who are in dire need, please send a donation to the special account set up to help make a difference in these people's lives. I know if they had the means to reach you, they would thank you from the bottom of their hearts and with tears in their eyes, just as they thanked our group on that fateful day in July.

(Dr. Michael Sontheimer is an American chiropractor practicing for the past four years in Lima, Peru. He can be reached at michaelsontheimer@hotmail.com)

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You can help!

For more information on the relief efforts, and to make a donation that will help bring much needed aid to the victims of the Peru earthquake, go to http://chiroreliefperu.blogspot.com. Donations can be made through a secure online system. Please give generously!