The Clitheroe


Thursday, October 20th, 2005 No. 6,222 news and views from the Cetrtre of Oie Kingdom


vertiser an imes PAGES 31-50


Please help these desperate people


by Faiza Afzaal


A HEROIC fire-fighter has revealed how he left behind his sleeping bag and food to


help survivors in quake-hit Pakistan. Darren Hudson, (pictured), who flew 4,000


miles to rescue victims from the earthquake, said he and his colleagues were so moved by their plight that they donated their sleeping bags, tents, food, water carriers, fuel contain­


ers and cookers. And now the 36-year-old has issued a des­


perate plea to Kibble Valley folk to donate funds to provide food and shelter for millions


of homeless people. Ex-Royal Marine Darren, who lives in


Clitheroe, but works at Hyndburn Fire Sta­ tion, returned home on Sunday after a har­ rowing five days working in Muzaffarabad - the epicentre of the earthquake. He was part of a 10-man team from Lan­


cashire, who helped to pull out dozens of peo­ ple buried under tons of rubble and collapsed


buildings. Speaking of his life-saving mission, he said:


“The scenes there were devastating. People have lost everything. Villages have been wiped out and people are living in make-shift tents, crying out for food and shelter. “Our role was to find people alive and once


we rescued someone it gave us hope that there was a chance of finding more survivors. “However, because people there are desper­


ately in need of food and shelter, they assumed we were from the aid agency.


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million people homeless and 50,000 dead. Darren, along with British rescue teams,


worked around-the-clock in very difficult con­ ditions. They had specialist equipment to help trace signs of life under flattened buildings. This included a camera called a “snake eye”, which can scan for clues of survivors. “We worked on a rota and didn’t get much


rest, “ he commented. “On some days, torren­ tial rain hampered our rescue efforts, but as soon as it was dry, we began searching again. “People there were really nice. Despite los­


ing everything, they were very welcoming and very appreciative of our help.” Darren, who has been a fire-fighter for eight


years and a rescue team member for five years, was on a rescue mission in Algeria two years


ago. Describing the “traumatising” five days in


the latest disasater-hit zone, he said: “When we searched in collapsed hospitals and schools, it was distressing to find schoolbags belonging


to children still there. “The earthquake in Pakistan is very differ­


ent to the disaster in Algeria as it is at a larger scale. The scenes that I have witnessed will remain with me for the rest of my life. “In the next few weeks the conditions in


Pakistan are going to get worse with the cold weather approaching. The survivors desper­


“A lot of people didn’t think anyone would be found alive, they thought we were going to


pull out dead bodies.” The powerful 7.6-magnitude quake has wiped out several villages, left more than three


UBS


ately need our help.” People can donate by calling the Disasters


Emergency Line on 0870 60 60 900. • Fund-raising in the Kibble Valley - see


page 2. • As I See It - see page 8


OUR picture shows baby star Libby with brothers Ben Astlcy and Adrian Thomas (D15100.5/la)


Libby is a TV star at three weeks’ old!


NEW-BORN Libby Blue Thomas is about to bring happiness into the lives qf a young couple in TV’s “Hollyoaks”. For the three-week-old


Clitheroe tot is playing the hit teen-soap’s latest new­ comer - the tiny daughter of first-time parents Tony and Mandy Hutchinson. Libby is the real-life


daughter of self-employed landscape gardener Mr Duncan Thomas (44), and his partner Claire Astley


(29), of Bolland Prospect. Born on September


27th, weighing 71b. lloz., she landed her big break when the Chester-based soap bosses approached Kidz National casting agency asking if they had any suitable babies for the part. Kibble Valley resident


and family friend, Lisa Pissochet, whose children Lauren and Luke have


www.clitheroetoday.co.uk Price 58p/


Save £££s on fun fair^ vouchers mwf:. i:?


PAGE 18


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