Quake rescue mission
A search and rescue specialist from Balderton is among those helping victims of the Haiti earthquake that has claimed the lives of more than 200,000 people.
More than 3m people have been affected by the earthquake, which measured 7.0 on the Richter Scale. Many were trapped under the remains of collapsed shacks and buildings.
Mr David Phillips (43) works for Lincolnshire’s Urban Search and Rescue Team, a dedicated group trained to deal with disasters.
He and four colleagues, along with five Lincolnshire firefighters, are part of the UK International Search and Rescue Team which has 65 firefighters and doctors from Britain in Haiti.
The team has dug out alive a two-year-old girl from the rubble of a nursery; a 55-year-old man rescued from a collapsed supermarket, a 39-year-old woman in a block of flats and a 60-year-old man who had been at home at the time of the earthquake.
Mr Phillips was called at home in the early hours shortly after the earthquake happened.
His team arrived in the devastated country on Friday and immediately started work alongside aid agencies from around the world helping to find and free trapped survivors. They are expected to be there until at least today.
On Wednesday morning Mr Phillips called his wife, Mrs Paula Phillips (40) after a strong aftershock measuring 6.1 struck west of the capital, Port-au-Prince.
He assured her he was safe and said he was about to get into a helicopter to go to the epi-centre to see if they could help.
Mr Phillips is working in areas outside Port-au-Prince.
“He said the smell was horrendous and they are working in really hot conditions,” said Mrs Phillips.
She said the team had been asked to stay on until today as, against the odds, people were still being found alive.
It is the first time Mr Phillips has been called to help with a disaster abroad and Mrs Phillips said she and his family, including their daughters Abbie (14) and Bethany (11) were extremely proud of what he and his colleagues were doing.
“He loves his job and it is what he is trained for,” she said.
Mr Phillips, a former pupil of the Magnus and Magdalene schools, joined Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue Service in 1999.
He was promoted to crew manager in 2006 and moved to Gainsborough before becoming a full-time member of the Urban Search and Rescue team where he is a training manager.
About £2,400 was raised in collections at services at Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Church, Boundary Road, Newark, on Saturday evening and Sunday.
The money will go to CAFOD, the aid charity for the Catholic church in England and Wales. Newark priest Father Michael O’Donoghue said this ensured the money went directly to pay for food, medication and water for people in Haiti.
“People are very conscious of how lucky we are here,” he said. “I think it is because of that people are very generous and very giving.”
Newark Rotary Club collected money outside Waitrose, Newark, on Saturday, raising £1,900. A wine draw by the club raised a further £150 for the cause.
The money will be split between two Rotary Club initiatives.
The first is to send Shelter Boxes to Haiti, providing emergency shelter and warmth to people affected by the disaster. Around 1,700 have so far been sent to Port-au-Prince.
The money will also go towards Aqua Boxes which provide essential supplies and water purification tablets for affected people.
Mr Peter Hall, from Newark Rotary Club, said: “We would like to say a big thank-you to Waitrose management and customers. People really got behind the collections.”
