Amid the devastation caused by the disaster that struck Nepal and Tibet, the survival of a 94-year-old woman has become a symbolic story of hope.
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Gunakeshari Bohara, who lived in a care home in Rasuwa District, in northern Nepal, was found alive beneath the mud and raging torrents of water that had flooded down from the mountains.
Videos of the operation to rescue her have spread widely across the media and social networks. The footage shows an excavator clearing a path through the mud as two members of the rescue team carry the 94-year-old woman in the machine’s bucket. With her body completely covered in mud and her clothes soaked through, the elderly woman appears helpless and shaken.
One of the rescuers then covers her with blankets. The astonished look she gives him has created a poignant moment for thousands of people.
Of all the residents and staff at the care home, Bohara was the only survivor. The building was destroyed by the mass of water and mud, while military teams used an excavator to pull the 94-year-old woman from the ground.
After the rescue operation was completed, she was taken to a trauma center in Kathmandu. Doctors discovered that Bohara suffered from dementia and that the severe shock had left her unable to say her name or explain what had happened.
The elderly woman’s identity was established later, when a relative recognized her among the patients being treated at the hospital.
Bohara’s condition is improving, according to doctors. In the latest footage distributed by international media, she is shown covered with blankets and lying in a hospital bed.
One of the doctors told The Times that the patient is unable to explain how she managed to survive, while everyone else at the care home lost their lives. According to him, what happened may never be known, and her survival is a miracle.
The 94-year-old woman’s case has once again given hope to families who continue searching for relatives missing as a result of the disaster.
At emergency centers in Kathmandu, family members anxiously wait for any information about their loved ones. For several days, one woman has been searching for her uncle, while another is praying that her son will be found after his home was completely destroyed by water and mud.
As the death toll and number of missing people continue to rise, the rescue of Gunakeshari Bohara remains one of the few stories conveying hope amid the aftermath of the disaster.
