By Lauren King
The Virginian-Pilot
NORFOLK, Va. — Jens Christensen told members of the Virginia Task Force 2 that his new birthday is Jan. 17.
It was the day that the search-and-rescue personnel - most of them firefighters from across South Hampton Roads - helped rescue him from the rubble of the United Nations building in Haiti.
They sang “Happy Birthday” to him.
It was one of the highlights of their week in Haiti, which was filled with hope and doubts for the country’s future.
The Virginia-based group of about 80 people helped rescue Christensen and two children during the week . They returned late Saturday, and some said they wish they could have done more.
“I’m wondering if they’ll ever recover from this,” said Jim Ingledue, a search team manager and captain in the Virginia Beach Fire Department. “I just left there feeling very sorry for them and wishing there was an answer.”
The destruction was overwhelming, the smells putrid, and the aftershocks without warning, said Virginia Beach Battalion Chief Tim Riley. He said he was grateful when Christensen visited the group before they returned home because it helped validate the trip.
Each day the search-and- rescue groups were assigned a section. The Virginia team typically worked with a New York City-based team and a group of Jamaican firefighters.
When they arrived in their section, they had to find someone who spoke English and could understand that they were there to rescue those who were trapped, but alive, Ingledue said.
“There were bodies everywhere,” he said. “We really had to rely on the people.”
They made use of daylight hours, often working from 6 a.m. until sunset. Rescue days were the longest because they had to collect the sometimes fist-sized rubble in buckets and pass it along a line from the entry points.
Riley said the rescues were highlights, but he also remembers seeing how happy people were despite their suffering.
“There was a sense that they were glad to see you,” he said.
In one instance, he met a teen girl at a hospital who had just had her right leg amputated below the knee.
“I made eye contact,” he said. “And when I asked if I could take a photo she said, ‘oui, oui, oui,’ put her arm around her mom and they smiled.”
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