WSC Lancer Athletics Feature: "Mathieu Survives Earthquake In Haiti"

For most of us in the United States, we naturally heard about last month's earthquake in Haiti on the internet or as a report with the afternoon's regular news, but for freshman Rose Mathieu she tells a different story. Mathieu speaks about her tale of survival on the island the day it happened.

She had been planning for the last five years to visit her brother, sisters, cousins and other relatives who live in the capital city of Port-au-Prince, just a short distance away from the Presidential Palace.

Mathieu, who resides in Somerville, Mass, sprints and jumps for the Worcester State women's indoor and outdoor track & field team. At various meets this season she has qualified for the Division III New England Championships in the 55 meter dash, the 200 and the long jump.

"She is a strong athlete for us and she will be competing in multiple events in the upcoming conference and regional championships," said head women's track and field coach Mat Lemaire.

Mathieu was originally born in Haiti and moved to the United States at a very young age.

On January 12, it was a sunny Tuesday afternoon and Mathieu was enjoying a relaxing afternoon in the company of her brother and sister, days before she was supposed to come back to Massachusetts to begin the second semester.

As she sat braiding her hair in front of a mirror on the first floor of her sister's two-story house, she felt the earth start to shake beneath her. Instinctively, she immediately went for her nephew's crib to protect her sister's son, who was a day away from his first birthday.

Mathieu picked him up and ran for the closest doorway - as the ground shook below her - where her brother and sister were huddled for safety.  They stayed close together to protect themselves in case any rubble fell from the ceiling as most of the houses are made of cement and metal, which are above the doorways.

The 7.0 magnitude earthquake lasted less than a minute, but for the people miles away from the epicenter it seemed like an eternity.

"Imagine your self on a skate board," said Mathieu. "That's exactly what it felt like, only your legs are forced into the ground and they moved back and forth with the force of the earthquake. It felt like a lifetime."

When things finally came to a halt, they stood up and got out from underneath the doorway. Amidst the piles of broken glass and other fragments, Mathieu and her siblings were a little shaken up, but they were alive and the house was mostly still in one piece.

The three of them then walked outside to the gate of the house to inspect the damage the earthquake had caused.

"Houses were flattened and we were not even sure if we survived," said Mathieu. "I have this picture of the house behind that I had put online. The same house was completely destroyed."

In fact, on the entire street Mathieu said that her house and another house, just down the road, were the only buildings that were still standing. The other structure that remained was a prayer house.

Mathieu was amazed that this particular house hadn't been crushed by the earthquake. The building itself on the outside looked dilapidated and Mathieu would have thought that it would have been the first thing to fall down, but she stared in amazement as it stood as a refuge for survivors to gather and make sure that their loved ones were safe.

Mathieu's younger cousin was at school when the earthquake hit and because phone lines and the electricity were out, they had no idea what had happened to her. Mathieu entered the building, prayed as hard as she could and as many times as she could to make sure her cousin was alive.

For what seemed like an hour, Mathieu continued to pray, through the tremors following the earthquake, until she found out that her cousin was fine and for that fact she was very thankful.

Not long after Mathieu's cousin had found the prayer house where her family was, the aftershock from the tremors continued to hit the island. With their location less than a mile away from the harbor of Port-au-Prince, Mathieu's brother suggested that they head for higher ground before it got too dark so that they would be safe in case the water level started to rise.

At about 4:30 PM, the four of them then started a mile trek for higher ground to a part of town called Canape Vert (The Green Canopy). Throughout the streets people began to fill them so they could spend the night outside.

"We slept that night next to complete strangers," said Mathieu. "Everyone was out in the street where we were. People also seemed to have come out of the rubble with sheets so they could use them as blankets. The next morning there were other people across the street who were covered with sheets."

Mathieu then traveled back to her sister's house to pick up her passport, her backpack and other belongings so that she and her brother could begin their journey to the American Embassy so she could get off the island.

The embassy itself was two hour walk away from her sister's house, near the Toussaint L'Ouverture Airport. Mathieu described a scene out of a movie as her and her brother walked the streets of Port-au-Prince.

"The city was completely flattened and there was a lot of destruction," she said. "There were hundreds of dead bodies everywhere and we passed a lot of people in the streets in need of medical attention."

Walking the streets was no easy task as they would go down one road only to find out that it was completely blocked off by a fallen building. It took much longer than they expected to get to the airport.

"We were wearing tank tops, shirts and jeans as we walked the streets," said Mathieu. "It was so hot out and the sun was really beating down on us."

When they got as close as they could to the airport, they hailed a taxi that took them to the American Embassy. Once she arrived and got cleared to travel, she flew on an airplane to the Dominican Republic where she stayed for two days at a local hotel. Mathieu was back in Massachusetts on Sunday at 1 AM.

Mathieu was fortunate to be in one piece after she walked the streets barefoot from the time the earthquake happened all the way until she got on the plane for the Dominican Republic.

"I was very lucky that we didn't step on much broken glass because it was everywhere," said Mathieu. "When we did step on glass, we were lucky that it didn't break any skin."

Mathieu said that most of her family is safe in good condition at a relative's house several miles away from Port-au-Prince.

The earthquake itself put a new spin on things for Mathieu. She now feels as though she understands more about the meaning of life.

"I know understand more about what I want in life," said Mathieu. "Material things are nothing because they can be gone in 30 seconds."

You can help the efforts of the Worcester State Student Athletics Advisory Committee (SAAC) to help raise money for the campuses effort to donate money to the Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders and Partners In Health.

The gate from both men's and women's basketball games against Framingham State and the ice hockey contest against Plymouth State will be donated along with money from a 50/50 raffle sponsored on by the varsity Cheerleading squad. SAAC will also have a table set up outside the entrance to the gym to sell bracelets to help support the cause.

The women's basketball team will also be assisting Aubuchon Hardware with their drive over the next week. A box will be placed for a collection of baby supplies including diapers, wipes, formula, rice cereal, and Tylenol. All donations will go to the Gods Littlest Angels office based in Colorado Springs, Colorado.