My Life with Death

Hoover University of Palaeontology, Las Vegas, October 12, 2008, 1:50 p.m.

 I heard buzzing and rustling. It was a terrible sound. He kept repeating it in my head. It sounded like a sound and absolute silence at the same time. It didn't stop. I felt pain. My whole body hurt, and I could also smell blood. Everywhere. It was leaking from my ears. I had it on my face, on my hands, on my legs, on my chest. Blood was everywhere. Glass and pieces of metal littered the ground around me. I didn't even know where I was. It was such a force. It threw me several meters away. I couldn't get up. My feet hurt so much and were cold—icy like dead. Cut off. I was lying on my back. I tried with all my might to move. To crawl to some wall, I could deny myself. It didn't work. I couldn't move my legs. My body was weak, torn with fragments.

I screamed. That was the last thing I had left. I called more and more. Aloud. I cried in all directions. I was hoping someone would hear me. That there is someone else alive here with me. Thinking of my friends who could be dead made me cry. I wailed. I was worried. I was concerned about them and myself. I didn't know what would happen, what else could happen. I couldn't believe I survived the blast, but I wasn't out of it yet and could have bled out there. I didn't know if I had a spinal cord injury. I didn't know if I could stand up. I didn't know anything, and I was so scared.

2:04 p.m.

"Hello," it said.

I didn't know if it was real or not.

"Here," I yelled, hoping I wasn't imagining it.

"Where are you who?" shouted a voice on the other side of the concrete wall. The voice came from outside. Someone came to save me. I was so relieved but still believed I was not the only survivor. I wanted to get up, find my friends, and help them escape. Something started making a thunderous noise near me. It was from where I heard the voice. It was dusty, and the concrete block was shaking. Chunks of concrete fell to the ground. Dust was everywhere. Nothing could be seen. I covered my face with my hands. I coughed. Suddenly, I heard footsteps and human voices that soothed me. People in rescue suits with stretchers and essential medical equipment passed to the place where I was lying, as well as other people - firefighters - who ensured the statics of the building.

"I'm here," I shouted as hard as I could.

I don't remember anything after that. I passed out from exhaustion. I woke up in an ambulance on the way to the hospital with tubes all over my body and bandages holding back blood from the wounds on my arms and legs, especially on the legs. I had the deepest wounds there. There was even a large splinter still sticking out of my left thigh.