Tuesday, January 19, 2010

WINNIE, A MIRACLE GIRL FROM HAIT



AMAZING - The moment Winnie is plucked from the rubble


THIS is the angel-faced tot being hailed as a miracle of the Haiti earthquake disaster.

Little Winnie Tilin - just 16 months old - was pulled alive from the rubble of her family's home after 68 HOURS.
Her faint moans were heard by chance by a TV crew filming the devastation which has already claimed 50,000 lives. Tragically, among them are Winnie's parents, crushed to death by the falling masonry which amazingly missed her.
A further 150,000 are feared dead - and the tot joins the tens of thousands of children orphaned by Tuesday's massive quake in the country's capital Port-au-Prince. Millions more are injured or homeless.


Haiti has become a hell on earth since it was ripped apart by its biggest earthquake for 200 years, measuring 7.0 on the Richter Scale. Aftershocks continue to shake the ruined city, forcing survivors to sleep outdoors, terrified yet more buildings will collapse.
All around makeshift morgues have sprung up, already overflowing with broken bodies.

Incredibly, Winnie was rescued by an Australian news crew filming outside the capital's Save The Children charity office.

The TV team's interpreter Deiby Celestino heard her faint cries and jumped into the concrete hole she was trapped in.
After crawling over dead bodies to get to her, he was able to pull her out. Mr Celestino, from neighbouring Dominican Republic, said: "It's very emotional. It felt like my own baby I was pulling out there."
A Save The Children doctor who examined the toddler was amazed to find that, though she was severely dehydrated, she was not seriously injured. The toddler was then passed to her uncle, Frantz Tilin, who was looking for her after losing his pregnant wife in the disaster.
Rescue attempts were still going on last night with British firefighters emerging as heroes.
They hauled two-year-old Mia Charlotte from the collapsed Beatrice kindergarten in Port- au-Prince. The firemen were among a 64-strong British team who raced to the country.
Pete Stevenson, operations commander, said: "We are over the moon. Mia is beautiful and the rescue was a huge success."
Mia was later reunited with her grateful mother.

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