Medical student witnessed Nepal devastation

Sam Thomsen, a fourth-year medical student, traveled to Nepal to help people before the massive earthquake that struck the country in late April.

Thomsen was at Annapurna base camp when the quake hit. (Photos courtesy Sam Thomsen)

Thomsen, a fourth-year medical student, had actually finished his rotation at the Tilganga Eye Institute, where he provided eye care as part of the Prevention of Global Blindness Division of the Truhlsen Eye Institute at UNMC.

He was touring the country on the day of the quake. He was 4,130 meters above sea level, at Annapurna base camp, when the quake hit.

“We still felt it there,” he said.

It took a while before the people at base camp, which has a landline but no reliable Internet access, could grasp the full magnitude of the disaster, Thomsen said.

“At first we weren’t sure of the extent, but as the day went on, we heard about the destruction at Kathmandu and the death toll,” he said.

On the way down Annapurna, and over a two-day hike back to where he could catch a bus to Kathmandu, Thomsen and his group passed several areas that had been impacted by landslides. Houses they had stayed in during the journey were left without roofs or walls. But that was only the beginning.

When Thomsen finally reached Kathmandu several days after the quake, his ride to his lodgings took him all the way across the devastated city.

“The western part of the city was hit the hardest,” he said. “There were so many people out in the destruction, trying to clean up. To see those massive buildings lying on their sides, it was pretty shocking.”

Being from Nebraska, Thomsen said, he’s not used to earthquakes — but he did see community outreach in the aftermath that Midwesterners might find familiar.

“People were everywhere, doing what they could to help the clean up,” he said. “Houses were destroyed, but people were trying to do their best to organize everything.”

Thomsen had traveled to Nepal to help people there. Now, he said, that opportunity exists for every member of the UNMC community, and in fact every citizen of the United States.

“It’s important, even though we may have different cultures and different beliefs, that when disaster hits, humanity will respond,” he said. “Nepal is not just a country, but it’s people just like us. A country like America is blessed with wealth and resources — this is our time to shine, an opportunity not only for UNMC but the entire country to step up.”