Nepali Times

On the day of the earthquake, I was in the common room of the Sayapatri Hotel in Gongabu, getting ready to go around the city with three of my friends. We were to leave for Malaysia after two days.

As I put on my shoes the room started shaking and the lights went out. We knew it was an earthquake but when we tried to run out we saw the stairs had collapsed. The house started crumbling around us. We screamed and held onto each other.

The upper floor collapsed on top of us, throwing us in different directions. My left leg was trapped under a beam and I could not move. My friends were dead.

A person whose name I do not remember was on the other side of the room, alive. I couldn’t see in the dark but I could hear him moving so I asked him to go get help.

“We are sure to die here,” he said in a panicked voice. He told me he was from Dhading and was flying to Saudi Arabia. I am not sure if he was rescued.

My mouth went dry shouting for help. My leg hurt a lot, I couldn’t move, cry or sleep.

I used to wet my lips with a handkerchief that I peed on. After a while, I couldn’t even do that as I was dehydrated. My limbs were swollen and my finger nails had turned white.

I began to think of my family members -- my parents, my wife and my son, and people from my village.

I started hallucinating that I was home or that I was getting rescued, but in reality I was still stuck underneath a collapsed building.

I had given up my hope of survival when I heard someone. A rescue team had arrived. They drilled a hole, inserted a camera and found me.

It took them three hours to get my leg out from under the beam. They gave me oxygen, water and a packet of noodles. I drank four bottles of water.

I could still feel the earth moving when I was brought out. My left leg was amputated. At first I was discouraged about losing a limb, but considering all those who lost their lives, I know I am very lucky.

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