Post photographer Matthew McDermott, who traveled to Haiti with the disaster-relief or ganization AmeriCares, snapped this amazing rescue shot, which appeared in some editions of yesterday's Post.
I spent seven grueling days surrounded by end less images of despair and destruction -- and then I witnessed a miracle.
Walking through the ruins of a neighborhood, I stumbled on a crew of New York City cops and firefighters working atop a huge pile of rubble.
They had confirmed that, amazingly, two kids were alive under the wreckage of a three-story building housing a supermarket.
Some workers used saws and jackhammers; others moved buckets full of debris off the mound of wreckage.
They were desperate to reach the children -- a boy, 8, and his 10-year-old sister -- but had to take their time; quick moves could destabilize the debris. Time passed agonizingly slowly.
After three hours, they finally created a gap just above the kids, and rescued the girl.
But the boy, who said his name was Kiki, was afraid to come out. Not at all surprising, after seven terrifying days in the dark.
The men brought Kiki's mom to the hole, and she called out to him.
Suddenly, he popped out and flashed a smile that lit up the scene. I grabbed my camera and snapped perhaps the most memorable shot of my career.
Kiki's smile will live with me forever.
1 comment:
That is such a great picture and a great story! I hope you don't mind, but I borrowed the pic for my blog but I linked to your blog for the story. What an uplifting story! I smile everytime I look at that little boy's face!
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