Dont think about the bad stuff How the children of the quake survived and thrived
- 8 years ago
'Don't think about the bad stuff': How the children of the quake survived and thrived
178 children have to share the anniversary of a parent's death with the nation. To mark five years since one of New Zealand's darkest days, Olivia Carville and Mike Scott honour the children of the February 22 quake.
On February 22, 2011, 178 children lost a parent.
Some were so young they have no memories of their mum or dad; some weren't even born.
It's been five years since the earthquake. That's 1825 days and five birthdays.
Christchurch has changed a lot over those years, but the ageing of a child represents the passing of time in a way that cityscapes do not.
Those who were crawling are now walking.
Those who couldn't talk are now writing.
Those who didn't understand death now talk candidly of heaven.
The death of a parent will always feel unbearable to a child, but losing a mother or father in a disaster that claimed 185 lives and destroyed a city adds a rare level of complexity and confusion to that grief.
These children have to share the anniversary of their parent's death with an entire nation.
To mark five years since New Zealand's darkest day, the Herald is honouring the children of the quake.
• Remembering the three babies who died that day: 5-week-old Taneysha Gail Prattley killed in her pram on Lichfield St, 5-month-old Baxtor Gowland who died in his cot and 8-month-old Jayden Harris crushed by a television set.
• Remembering the children who almost lost their lives, such as 11-year-old Abbie Walls who was pulled from the rubble unresponsive and barely breathing.
• And, remembering the children left behind: Ashton, 4, and Jack, 8, Fisher who will be letting go of balloons for their dad on the anniversary and Matilda, 7, and Molly, 8, Maynard who will be taking sunflowers to their mum's grave.
Five years on, these are the stories of five children of the quake.
A 6-year-old lifted out of the rubble of City Mall; lifeless.
A crushed and bloodied little girl, starved of oxygen, cradled in the arms of strangers.
Amid the carnage and hysteria of February 22, 2011, Abbie Walls was the first quake victim carried into Christchurch Hospital.
Looking at her today, you would never guess she cheated death that day.
Her smile belies any hint that five years ago her crush injuries were so severe doctors considered stopping treatment.
Hospital records show she had a limited response to resuscitation, a traumatic brain injury, liver lacerations, a broken jaw and cuts on her face and head.
Other than a minor scar along her hair line and partial loss of vision in one eye, Abbie has no lasting injuries.
She's wise beyond her 11 years.
"I do think it's changed me," she says of the quake.
"Now I sort of know how to deal with situations. Like when people are either sick or injured and then you comfort them; how they need comforting," she says.
Mercifully, Abbie's mind has erased any memory of the quake - or the three weeks which followed.
She knows she was on her way to the dentist with her mum, Olivia Cruickshank.
The pair were walking hand-in-hand through City Mall when "the building fell down and my mum protected me".
Ms Cruickshank used her body to shield her daughter from the debris and it wasn't until rescuers pulled her out of the rubble, that they saw a child hidden beneath.
Abbie was rushed to hospital immediately; her mum was declared dead and covered by a grey blanket.
Over the course of four hours, three different people pronounced Ms Cruickshank dead before a young man found a faint pulse and called for help.
Miraculously, she too survived.
Abbie doesn't remember the moment she woke up from a coma in Auckland's Starship Hospital. But she does remember having all her teddy bears on her hospital bed, learning how to walk and talk again and seeing her mum for the first time.
"I went to visit her room and went inside and I got a bit scared because she wasn't breathing properly and was making weird sounds so I just went outside and drew pictures of my mum," Abbie says.
She used to sit inside a cardboard box in her mum's hospital room so she could be near her, but avoid having to see the machines helping her breathe.
"I always used to feel emotional and sad and I'd never be happy, but now I'm always happy because I don't like to think when I'm sad because it just makes me think about all the bad stuff," she says.
This year, Abbie will attend the earthquake memorial to remember those who lost their lives and "celebrate that my mum and I are still here".
"I feel really lucky," she says.
Five years on from the day she almost died, Abbie's message to Christchurch is: "Stay strong and if there are good memories before or after that date try to think of them and don't always think about the bad stuff because it won't get you very far."
178 children have to share the anniversary of a parent's death with the nation. To mark five years since one of New Zealand's darkest days, Olivia Carville and Mike Scott honour the children of the February 22 quake.
On February 22, 2011, 178 children lost a parent.
Some were so young they have no memories of their mum or dad; some weren't even born.
It's been five years since the earthquake. That's 1825 days and five birthdays.
Christchurch has changed a lot over those years, but the ageing of a child represents the passing of time in a way that cityscapes do not.
Those who were crawling are now walking.
Those who couldn't talk are now writing.
Those who didn't understand death now talk candidly of heaven.
The death of a parent will always feel unbearable to a child, but losing a mother or father in a disaster that claimed 185 lives and destroyed a city adds a rare level of complexity and confusion to that grief.
These children have to share the anniversary of their parent's death with an entire nation.
To mark five years since New Zealand's darkest day, the Herald is honouring the children of the quake.
• Remembering the three babies who died that day: 5-week-old Taneysha Gail Prattley killed in her pram on Lichfield St, 5-month-old Baxtor Gowland who died in his cot and 8-month-old Jayden Harris crushed by a television set.
• Remembering the children who almost lost their lives, such as 11-year-old Abbie Walls who was pulled from the rubble unresponsive and barely breathing.
• And, remembering the children left behind: Ashton, 4, and Jack, 8, Fisher who will be letting go of balloons for their dad on the anniversary and Matilda, 7, and Molly, 8, Maynard who will be taking sunflowers to their mum's grave.
Five years on, these are the stories of five children of the quake.
A 6-year-old lifted out of the rubble of City Mall; lifeless.
A crushed and bloodied little girl, starved of oxygen, cradled in the arms of strangers.
Amid the carnage and hysteria of February 22, 2011, Abbie Walls was the first quake victim carried into Christchurch Hospital.
Looking at her today, you would never guess she cheated death that day.
Her smile belies any hint that five years ago her crush injuries were so severe doctors considered stopping treatment.
Hospital records show she had a limited response to resuscitation, a traumatic brain injury, liver lacerations, a broken jaw and cuts on her face and head.
Other than a minor scar along her hair line and partial loss of vision in one eye, Abbie has no lasting injuries.
She's wise beyond her 11 years.
"I do think it's changed me," she says of the quake.
"Now I sort of know how to deal with situations. Like when people are either sick or injured and then you comfort them; how they need comforting," she says.
Mercifully, Abbie's mind has erased any memory of the quake - or the three weeks which followed.
She knows she was on her way to the dentist with her mum, Olivia Cruickshank.
The pair were walking hand-in-hand through City Mall when "the building fell down and my mum protected me".
Ms Cruickshank used her body to shield her daughter from the debris and it wasn't until rescuers pulled her out of the rubble, that they saw a child hidden beneath.
Abbie was rushed to hospital immediately; her mum was declared dead and covered by a grey blanket.
Over the course of four hours, three different people pronounced Ms Cruickshank dead before a young man found a faint pulse and called for help.
Miraculously, she too survived.
Abbie doesn't remember the moment she woke up from a coma in Auckland's Starship Hospital. But she does remember having all her teddy bears on her hospital bed, learning how to walk and talk again and seeing her mum for the first time.
"I went to visit her room and went inside and I got a bit scared because she wasn't breathing properly and was making weird sounds so I just went outside and drew pictures of my mum," Abbie says.
She used to sit inside a cardboard box in her mum's hospital room so she could be near her, but avoid having to see the machines helping her breathe.
"I always used to feel emotional and sad and I'd never be happy, but now I'm always happy because I don't like to think when I'm sad because it just makes me think about all the bad stuff," she says.
This year, Abbie will attend the earthquake memorial to remember those who lost their lives and "celebrate that my mum and I are still here".
"I feel really lucky," she says.
Five years on from the day she almost died, Abbie's message to Christchurch is: "Stay strong and if there are good memories before or after that date try to think of them and don't always think about the bad stuff because it won't get you very far."