News / Pilot Gray recalls harrowing time in Nepal
A SECOND powerful earthquake hit Nepal on Tuesday, just days after Shetland helicopter pilot Dougie Gray had left the country for the safety of Australia.
Gray, who has been working for helicopter airline Shree Ltd, has criticised his employer as well Nepalese officialdom for the ineffectiveness of getting aid to tens of thousands of people in desperate need.
More than 8,000 people died in the devastating earthquake of 25 April, with a further 18,000 injured and 500,000 left homeless.
Gray said he has had “a very harrowing time” in Nepal with many “near death experiences” while flying aid to remote villages in the immediate aftermath of the earthquake that had a magnitude of 7.8.
“With every day having some near death experience, so many political issues with my company, I just had to get out for my own sanity, safety and health,” he said.
According to Gray most of the aid arriving in Nepal did not get through to those most in need, while the authorities were also charging taxes for aid workers using the airport.
He added that his employer was more interested in its corporate image than flying rescue missions to far-flung villages.
Being part of the rescue mission had been a hugely frustrating experience, he said.
“I sat on the ground one day and did nothing due to government restrictions. I wanted to get back in, pull out and rescue all the people I had promised that I was coming back, and then wasn’t allowed.
“How bad did I feel when I had seen into these peoples’ eyes and had seen the sheer terror and desperation in their faces.”
He added: “I was nearly killed by a very close-by landslide myself, so I was very emotionally attached to these people who had to spend even more nights out in the cold, wet and dark with no food, with continued rumbles of aftershocks and nearby landslides. They had to be terrified!
“Then there was the very real threat of further major earthquakes (which has now happened, killing dozens more), the probable outbreak of cholera.
“I hadn’t slept in 10 days as I’d lay awake listening to every little noise and tremor, expecting the next big one. Then my heart would be pounding so hard I wasn’t sure if it the bed was moving or it was just me.”
He said leaving Nepal had not been a decision he had taken lightly.
“I have slept since and can look at this rationally now. Although I’m at pains thinking about the people I’ve left behind, I’m at peace with my decision to get out.”
He said he expected to be back in Shetland “sooner rather than later”.
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