Whilst filming for our fishing piece a teenager came up to us with a small boy called Martunis, 7.5 years old. He had been wandering since the tsunami hit on the 26th December having seen his mother and father washed away. Living on a diet of dried noodles which were floating around and water he managed to survive.
Malnourished and covered in bites we gave him some biscuits and water. We then decided that we should take him to Save the Children as they would best be able to care for him a God willing find some relatives still alive. The locals wanted him to stay with them. Knowing that wasn’t the best option we left with Martunis being carried by Martin.
In the car Martin dug out an MRE (Meatballs in Pasta I think) and spoon, gave him that to eat which he wolfed down going ‘Hmmm’ and also some more water. We made sure that Medea our driver / translator told Martunis that he would be safe now. Being carried off by three white men must have been quite unnerving.
At Save the Children a very kind Kenyan nurse washed, dried and clothed Martunis, he was quickly assessed by the doctor and then taken to the nearest hospital.
Seeing he had no body fat left they immediately put him on a drip, he did not like the needle at all, oxygen and checked him more thoroughly. The nurse amazed and saying it was a miracle.
It was in the hospital that we left him if the safe hands of Estonian doctors and nurses.
All having kids of our own it was a subdued ride back to the house wishing that he wouldn’t end up in a camp an orphan. But the probability was not that way inclined.
We started to write and edit, as we went and not concerned about the duration – a big TV news burden. Half way through we found out that his father was still alive and being brought to the hospital by Save the Children.
Stunned, totally and utterly stunned.
‘These hands would care for him yes, but nothing could replace this hand, it is his fathers. A hand he must have thought would never touch him again…
There will be many in Banda Aceh and beyond who will have lost hope that they will ever see loved ones again. What this small boy teaches us is that we must never loose faith.’
Ian’s last lines in the script.
This is an amazing story and to be able to get a good ending with in six hours of finding Martunis was fantastic. I think it helped us all realise that despite the total destruction of lives and property positive things could happen. We all felt very proud and privileged to be a part of it.
It gets even better though. When we found him he was wearing a football shirt of the Portuguese FA. They saw this and offered help to him and his family to get back on their feet.
Over a week later we also found out that Spanish TV channels have been playing the package on the news. Stunning.
Drop the R and MARTUNIS is an anagram for TSUNMAI
Links:
Sky News
http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30200-1167314,00.html
