"No matter what, I’ll always be there for you!” When the boy was trapped in an earthquake rubble for 38 hours - in the cold, the dark, without food or water; Those words his father always told him, kept him going.
It was a rainy day for me, i was torn between attending my regular meetings or staying back at home. Going was the best decision i made. I heard a true life story that touched my heart and made me cry.
The story was a demonstration of true love, comittment, and the power of having hope.
It is the story of a boy and his father after an earthquake in Armenia. I just had to read up more on the story in google.
December 7, 1988 started out as every other day in the northern part of Armenia, until about 11:41Am, when things turned around.
An earthquake struck! It was called the Spitak earthquake.
It was a major disaster as the region where the earthquake struck was flattened, killing over 30,000 people in less than four minutes and leaving others homeless.
After a careful search on Google, I came across the story I was looking for. I found it in the pages of the Chicken Soup books—stories that open the heart and rekindle the spirit.
It goes like this....
In the midst of all the chaos, a father left his wife securely at home and rushed to the school where his son was supposed to be, only to discover that the building had been flattened as a pancake.
After the traumatic initial shock, this man remembered the promise he had made to his son: “No matter what, I’ll always be there for you!” And tears began to fill his eyes. As he looked at the pile of debris that once was the school, it looked hopeless, but he kept remembering his commitment to his son.
He began to concentrate on where he walked his son to school each morning. Remembering his son’s classroom would be in the back right corner of the building, he rushed there and started digging through the rubble.
As he was digging, other forlorn parents arrived, clutching their hearts, saying, “My son!” “My daughter!”
Other well-meaning parents tried pulling him off what was left of the school, saying:
“It’s too late!”
“They’re dead!”
“You can’t help!”
“Go home!”
“Come on, face reality, there’s nothing you can do!”
“You’re just going to make things worse!”
To each parent, he responded with one line: “Are you going to help me now?”
And then he proceeded to dig for his son, stone by stone.
The fire chief showed up and tried to pull him off the school’s debris, saying, “Fires are breaking out, explosions are happening everywhere. You’re in danger. We’ll take care of it. Please go home.”
To which this loving, caring Armenian father asked, “Are you going to help me now?”
The police came and said, “You’re angry, distraught, and it’s over. You’re endangering others. We’ll take care of it. Go home.”
No one helped.
Courageously, he proceeded alone because he needed to know for himself: “Is my boy alive, or is he dead?”
He dug for eight hours…12 hours…24, and 36 hours. Then, in the 38th hour, he pulled back a boulder and heard his son’s voice. The man screamed his son’s name, “Armand!”
He heard back, “Dad? It’s me, Dad! I told the other kids not to worry. I told them that if you were alive, you’d save me, and when you saved me, they’d be saved. You promised, ‘No matter what, I’ll always be there for you!’ You did it, Dad!”
“There are 14 of us left out of 33, Dad. We’re scared, hungry, thirsty, and thankful you’re here. When the building collapsed, it made a wedge, like a triangle, and it saved us.”
“Come on out, boy!”
“No, Dad! Let the other kids come out first, because I know you’ll get me. No matter what, I know you’ll be there for me.”