Injured earthquake survivors from Turkiye arrive in Calgary: ‘We lost everything’ | 24CA News
A Calgary man has simply returned from Turkiye after spending practically 5 months there serving to his two siblings who had been severely injured within the earthquake that struck Turkiye and Syria in February.
More than 50,000 folks had been killed whereas improvement consultants from the United Nations estimate that about 1.5 million folks had been left homeless by the quake.
Mohammad Ajmal Nikzad left his house in Calgary to instantly to assist his mother and three siblings who had been dwelling in Turkiye.
His brother and 19 year-old sister had been injured. Lying beside them had been the our bodies of their mother and older sister who had been killed.
“We lost everything. They lost every single thing in their life that they had — even their legs and wishes,” Nikzad mentioned from his northwest Calgary house.
His brother, Sayed Hashimy, spent 36 hours trapped beneath particles within the house he lived in along with his mother and two sisters.
“I heard her asking for help and asking to be saved,” Hashimy mentioned. “She had fallen upside down and her mouth was in dust. She couldn’t breathe properly.
“A pillar was on my sister’s leg and they were trying to take her out. It took them more than three hours when they were trying to break the concrete and she was shouting and crying that it’s hurting.”
Hashimy, 26, mentioned there have been many individuals serving to get him and his sister out from the rubble. They had been asking their names and their condo numbers.
“When we said our names and apartment numbers, they said, ‘Oh, they are Syrians leave them alone — let’s get out of here,’ that’s why they stayed there longer,” he mentioned.
“I was trapped for 36 hours. I lost my legs.”
Hashimy’s legs had been each amputated whereas he was in Turkiye.
Nikzad was capable of find his brother and surviving sister and produce them to Calgary 5 months after the earthquake.
He worries for the folks left behind, particularly these dwelling in Turkiye who had been refugees. His household had relocated there from Afghanistan and there are numerous extra from Syria. He mentioned many are nonetheless dwelling in tents with out correct medical care.
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“The crisis has just started out there,” Nikzad mentioned. “People really need help now because they have no shelter. They have no food. They have no medication. They need artificial legs, and if they don’t have the legs, they won’t be back to regular life — they won’t be able to work.”
Hashimy was learning to be a mechanic in Turkiye. Now his future is unsure.
“I had lots of wishes before this happened. I wanted to go to the gym and be an athlete, but unfortunately I lost my legs,” Hashimy mentioned.
Canada has launched short-term particular measures to assist earthquake victims giving “priority to affected individuals for temporary resident, permanent resident and refugee applications.”
Despite the grief and trauma his household has suffered, Nikzad stays grateful and continues to assist others who’re nonetheless struggling to outlive in Turkiye.
“I don’t know how they’re going to survive,” he mentioned. “I got lucky because I am living in such a nice country. But not everyone has that opportunity.
“I got help from the government of Canada, that they accepted my brother and sister, and I am glad to bring them here with me, but others have no one. The crisis is not over. They really need help.”
He is grateful for his employers at A Gallery of Floors in Olds who began a fundraiser for his household.
“Our customers love him (Nikzad) and rave over his amazing personality — his laugh is contagious,” mentioned A Gallery of Floors proprietor Shaun Waite. “He is our family, his family is our family.
“He is the lone supporter of his family in Calgary, and his family in Turkiye.
“The expenses he is incurring will continue to for many years to come. This family is struggling with unimaginable pain and horror.”
Nikzad mentioned he’s dealing with his personal disaster now.
“In the house I am living, the homeowner called and wants to sell, so I have to find another house but it’s very hard for me to get another house right away,” he mentioned.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) is prioritizing short-term resident and everlasting resident purposes, together with refugee resettlement purposes, from affected shoppers within the area.
Canada launched new measures to make it simpler for Turkish and Syrian nationals to increase their short-term standing in Canada, and the chance to discover a job whereas they’re right here.
“This will make it possible for Turkish and Syrian nationals already in Canada, including those who come from the areas affected by the earthquake, to stay and support themselves while the region rebuilds,” mentioned a press release from IRCC.
The measures shall be in impact from March 29 to Sept. 25, 2023.
As of Feb. 8, 2023, there have been near 16,000 IRCC shoppers with purposes in progress in Turkiye and Syria. Of these, roughly 1,700 (750 everlasting and 920 short-term residents) had been from the world impacted by the earthquakes.
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