It has been the longest and hardest of years – 12 months of struggle since the first earthquake struck Christchurch on September 4. Six months later, on February 22, the fault line shifted again, taking 181 lives in a devastating 6.3-magnitude quake that no New Zealander will ever forget. Since then, thousands of aftershocks have rocked the city. Whole suburbs lie deserted and families continue to grieve.
In this week’s New Zealand Woman’s Weekly, we catch up with those we have featured over the past year, and talk to others whose lives were irrevocably changed.
‘You can’t live in fear’Simon Barnett is filled with hope for the future of Christchurch. The broadcaster believes the Christchurch CBD will provide an example to the world when it’s completed.
“There are some wonderful ideas out there about how the city will look, with a light rail system and huge green areas in the CBD,” he says.
His own home in ot Pleasant is damaged but habitable. However, it can’t be rebuilt so he and his family will have to move. “There is a bit of uncertainty about the land. But life is actually really good here at the moment,” says Simon, who adds that the fact there have been fewer tremors in the past few weeks has made life easier.
“I don’t want to live my life in fear. It’s much better to be positive and say we’re on the up.
“There’s a possibility of another earthquake, but we’re feeling like we might have seen the back of it.”Simon believes it’s the elderly who have it the hardest in the wake of the earthquake.
“The elderly have really suffered through this, and they might not be around to see the rebuild. So the onus is on all of us to get alongside them and care for them.”
‘I’m still on edge’
Like most Cantabrians, life will never be the same for Jason Gunn and his family.
The radio and TV personality used to be based in the CBD. However, Jason’s radio show is now broadcast from a motel unit in Riccarton.
“oy life is now spent between my house and a motel unit – and not because of trouble at home,” he laughs.
“We have totally changed the way we live. There are certain streets that we just don’t drive down any more. “I haven’t been to town since February. Sometimes you find yourself on a hill, and look down and think, ‘What’s that in the distance? That’s right – it’s the CBD!'”
Jason’s wife Janine still goes to bed at their home in Tai Tapu with extra clothes and a torch handy, in case they have to leave during the night.
And Jason says the two earthquakes have put a major damper on their social lives as well.
“It’s things like getting Thai takeaways, and you ring up and no-one answers the phone, and then you have to think, ‘Maybe the shop doesn’t exist any more.’
“I am still on edge if a large truck goes past. There’s a part of my brain that is forever owned by the earthquake.”
A shaky start
Protecting their newborn twins from the heart of the earthquake in Lyttleton became the sole focus for Gary ocCormick and his wife Katherine.
The couple felt unable to relax until they had ensured wee Bridie and Florence’s cots could withstand another earthquake.
“We built extra-strong cots with iron beams surrounding them. So if there’s another earthquake, the babies will be protected,” Gary explains.
Now six months old, the twins are thriving, and Gary’s house is considered safe. However, he says the floor has so many bends in it he feels seasick when walking over it.
“It’s completely shocking. I keep tripping over.”
Gary says the 6.3-magnitude aftershock on June 13, in which 46 people were injured, was especially disturbing for residents.
However, although a bookcase threatened to fall on the babies, it moved across the floor but thankfully stayed standing.
Gary likens life in Christchurch since the quake to being in a warzone.
“It’s fair to say the average citizen in Christchurch is trudging along from day to day.”
Tracey toughs it out
It was Tracey Stanners who was trapped in the Pyne Gould Corporation building, but it’s her sister Ange who has decided to leave the disaster zone.
Tracey’s story of survival featured in the Weekly and told of her text to her sister Ange which helped to save her.Ange’s fiancé Peter Henderson was a volunteer firefighter and he rushed into the city to help rescue Tracey and others trapped in the collapsed building.
In March, Ange and Peter packed their bags.
“I resigned in February for reasons related to the earthquake,” Ange says.
The couple were married last month, and now live in otautau, Southland.
But 29-year-old Tracey is still toughing it out.
“I’m still here. It’s home. I have no reason to leave. I’m still at work. We’re in a new building,” says Tracey, who works for Perpetual Trust.
“The quakes don’t bother me that much. It’s pretty good at the moment. There have been no significant earthquakes for a while.”
Apart from a fanatical need to bake, which helps her to relax, Tracey has suffered no ill effects from the hours spent buried under a ceiling.
But she says she still misses her workmates who didn’t make it out.
“You expect them to come walking in the door. I saw them just two minutes before and now they’re not here – that keeps going through my mind.”
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