Local woman escapes from quake-torn Haiti

West Valley resident Pat Freebury flew into Miami from Haiti early Tuesday morning after a successful overland evacuation through the Dominican Republic.

Her husband, Gary, said Pat was expected to arrive home in the Flathead Valley today. Pat Freebury, 71, was volunteering at an orphanage in Pignon, Haiti, when the earthquake hit last week.

Freebury was not hurt but was stranded in the mountain village about 50 miles north of the capital of Port-au-Prince. Due to the chaos and civil unrest in Port-au-Prince, it wasn’t feasible for her to go there to seek a flight home with the military.

Relying on advice from a friend familiar with Haiti, the couple devised an evacuation strategy in which she took a vehicle from Pignon to Cap Haitien on the north coast. From there, she took a bus across the border to Santiago, Dominican Republic, and then flew to the United States with American Airlines.

Gary Freebury said that both American Airlines and Delta Air Lines honored the tickets she held before the natural disaster. He was beyond relieved to have his wife back on U.S. soil on Tuesday.

“I can take a deep breath and relax now,” he said.