Margaret Tabor and her husband John Phelps, from Tasmania, are currently serving in Tonga through UnitingWorld Experience. Margaret is a nurse and happened to be visiting the island of Lifuka in Ha’apai, Tonga, when the Princess Ashika ferry sank nearby. The survivors were taken into Lifuka for medical care. The “hospital” there was destroyed by an earthquake a few years ago and so medical care is operated out of the doctor’s home. There are very limited medical resources available to deal with what was potentially a very difficult medical crisis. Margaret volunteered to assist and she writes:
“I guess it was good that I was able to lend a hand with the ferry disaster, I wish I could have done more, the nursing staff at the wharf in total were seven and one Doctor. Although we were prepared for anything the need was more emotional than medical, no wounds and only one stretcher case”.
“A lovely old man I talked to was on the boat with his son who also survived, fortunately his wife and daughter flew or the story would have been different. He was still in shock and told me he was from Australia. When I told him I was also, his face just lit up and we talked for ages. It was a very sad place to be just to see their faces as they sang a hymn together in the wharf building.”
Tags: Tonga
