DENVER - A National Guard lieutenant from Colorado used his own time and training to help save hundreds of lives in Haiti. University of Denver graduate Robert Rudich is just back from the earthquake-ravaged nation after risking his own life as a technical rescue expert.
Rudich says he's sharing his story in hopes of supporting the rescuers still there. While the military is proud of his mission they want us to tell you he did it own his own.
The complete devastation, even for military-trained experts like Rudich, made choosing their rescue targets difficult.
"Those are never easy decisions to make," Rudich told us as we looked at some of the hundreds of photos he took in Haiti. "It's never easy to say 'this might be a bridge too far, let's focus over here.'"
He showed us a photo of one building where a woman was trapped.
"It's hard to tell, but at one point this was a three-story house," he says pointing to a pile of rubble in the photo. They discovered she was trapped far below the rubble and barely reachable through a tiny crevice.
"What they actually did to get me in there is they held me by my feet and I walked down a gate with my hands like a ladder."
He found her barely alive, but pinned.
"The first time you get lowered into that hole with life and death right in front of you and you smell the smells and you see what you see You know, I'll admit personally I had to take a second and come out and take a better look at situation," Rudich says touching his chest.
He took vacation time to volunteer in Haiti, joining thousands of others fighting the odds to save hundreds of lives.
"The bugs, the smells the sites it's all inches from your face."
Two combat tours in Iraq helped Rudich stay focused.
"Worrying about somebody you can't help is only going to detract from helping someone you can still save," he says with a touch of regret in his voice. "That's somebody's family that they had thought was gone and you're bringing them back," Rudich says pointing at the rescuers on the rubble.
Each rescue took roughly six long, cramped hours, amid extreme heat and continued threat of aftershocks. They eventually reached the critical point with the trapped woman.
"It's a fire in your heart. You know that 'We can get this one. We can save her.' And when you pull [the victim] out, I tell you, it's like winning the Super Bowl," Rudich says with a smile.
He's only sharing his experience he says with the hope of inspiring others to help.
"The difference that they can make at home," he says, "By getting these people fed and getting these people water is beyond anything we could have ever done down there. "
Rudich says that, unlike most situations, they only had the most basic tools to work with. No cranes or heavy equipment, which made the work much harder.
Everywhere he went, medical and rescue crews were pushed to the limit.
He wants to get help for three specific relief efforts he worked with while in Haiti.
To get more information on each one go to:
http://doctorswithoutborders.org/index.cfm
http://www.frank-mckinney.com/caring_project.aspx
http://ifarelief.org/
Rudich says he's sharing his story in hopes of supporting the rescuers still there. While the military is proud of his mission they want us to tell you he did it own his own.
The complete devastation, even for military-trained experts like Rudich, made choosing their rescue targets difficult.
"Those are never easy decisions to make," Rudich told us as we looked at some of the hundreds of photos he took in Haiti. "It's never easy to say 'this might be a bridge too far, let's focus over here.'"
He showed us a photo of one building where a woman was trapped.
"It's hard to tell, but at one point this was a three-story house," he says pointing to a pile of rubble in the photo. They discovered she was trapped far below the rubble and barely reachable through a tiny crevice.
"What they actually did to get me in there is they held me by my feet and I walked down a gate with my hands like a ladder."
He found her barely alive, but pinned.
"The first time you get lowered into that hole with life and death right in front of you and you smell the smells and you see what you see You know, I'll admit personally I had to take a second and come out and take a better look at situation," Rudich says touching his chest.
He took vacation time to volunteer in Haiti, joining thousands of others fighting the odds to save hundreds of lives.
"The bugs, the smells the sites it's all inches from your face."
Two combat tours in Iraq helped Rudich stay focused.
"Worrying about somebody you can't help is only going to detract from helping someone you can still save," he says with a touch of regret in his voice. "That's somebody's family that they had thought was gone and you're bringing them back," Rudich says pointing at the rescuers on the rubble.
Each rescue took roughly six long, cramped hours, amid extreme heat and continued threat of aftershocks. They eventually reached the critical point with the trapped woman.
"It's a fire in your heart. You know that 'We can get this one. We can save her.' And when you pull [the victim] out, I tell you, it's like winning the Super Bowl," Rudich says with a smile.
He's only sharing his experience he says with the hope of inspiring others to help.
"The difference that they can make at home," he says, "By getting these people fed and getting these people water is beyond anything we could have ever done down there. "
Rudich says that, unlike most situations, they only had the most basic tools to work with. No cranes or heavy equipment, which made the work much harder.
Everywhere he went, medical and rescue crews were pushed to the limit.
He wants to get help for three specific relief efforts he worked with while in Haiti.
To get more information on each one go to:
http://doctorswithoutborders.org/index.cfm
http://www.frank-mckinney.com/caring_project.aspx
http://ifarelief.org/
