Whitefish guide helps with earthquake aftermath
<p class="p1"><strong>Don Nelson</strong> will talk about his experiences during the earthquake in Nepal during a slide-show presentation Tuesday at the O’Shaughnessy Center in Whitefish. Money raised during the event will go to the nonprofit Children of Kathmandu organization to be used for relief efforts. (Photos by Don Nelson)</p>
Ten seconds.
That sliver of time was all Don Nelson and others had to flee a stone building that crumbled during a massive earthquake in Nepal on April 25.
Nelson, a former Whitefish civic leader and co-owner of Nelson’s Ace Hardware, has been leading trekking tours in Nepal for many years. He knows the country’s rugged terrain intimately and has become deeply connected to the people and culture of Nepal.
He was there the day the earth shook. It was an afternoon like any other in the Himalayas.
“We were walking toward Lukla, on the fourth day of a walk into the area,” Nelson recalled. “We were sitting in a tea house having lunch when the earthquake struck. We escaped the rock structure and it exploded within 10 seconds ... it was really close. It was really devastating.”
On Tuesday in Whitefish, Nelson will talk about his experiences in the aftermath of the earthquakes.
The first quake measured 7.8 on the Richter scale and killed more than 8,800 people and injured well over 23,000. A second 6.7 quake the following day, plus continued aftershocks, added to the destruction. More than 130,000 houses were destroyed.
Both earthquakes struck during the middle of the day, Nelson pointed out. “If they would have been at night the [damage and fatalities] would have been tenfold.
“We literally ran four hours toward Lukla,” he said, recalling the immediate aftermath. Once in Lukla, he and his group stayed overnight with Sherpas.
Nelson was on the front line of triage the following morning, taking care of the wounded. As a backcountry trekker he is a trained wilderness first responder, with specialty training for the kinds of devastating injuries that can occur in the wilderness.
First responders in that area formed three-person teams to assist the wounded and assess priority patients for evacuations. Nelson assisted a Swiss doctor. Patients on stretchers were flown by helicopter to Lukla, and then were flown out of the area for further treatment.
“The whole thing has been a traumatic experience,” Nelson said.
None of Nelson’s close friends perished in the disaster, but it still has been difficult to come to grips with the widespread destruction.
After the triage was complete, Nelson continued to assist with damage assessments, both in Kathmandu and in a village north of Kathmandu.
“It’s brought everything in Nepal to a halt for the next year,” Nelson said about his trekking business. He will continue to conduct tours in Tibet, Bhutan and Burma.
Judy Golphenee, who operates the Children of Kathmandu nonprofit organization with her husband, Jerry, will be at the Whitefish presentation Tuesday night to answer questions and give a progress report on their relief efforts.
Children of Kathmandu, which provides schooling, health care and shelter for children in Nepal, has been raising money to rebuild the village of Tipling, near the epicenter of the earthquake, where all 460 homes were destroyed and 567 people died.
The Golphenees also have a connection to Whitefish. Jerry worked as a dentist in Whitefish during the early 1990s. Nelson said he’s known the Golphenees for 18 years and supports their mission of helping the less fortunate in Nepal.
While he will talk about his experience in the earthquake, the big focus, Nelson said, will be on the aftermath and how to rebuild the country.
Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by email at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.