EP004 - Saving a life in the Moroccan Earthquake (with Nick)

In September 2023, an earthquake struck Morocco killing 6,000 people, injuring many more, and leaving countless homeless and trying to rebuild their lives. We speak to Nick, a paramedic who was on a trip of a lifetime, sound asleep ready for a big day ahead, when an earthquake struck. Nick, who was with his son at the time, recounts his experience, and how he was able to apply his paramedic skills to try to help save the life of a young girl injured in the tragedy. 

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Nick and his son were raising funds for the hospice that looked after his wife. You can donate using this link:
https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/haltonhaventrekmorocco2023

You can donate to Unicef's Morocco Earthquake relief fund here:
https://www.unicef.org.uk/donate/morocco-earthquake/

Nick joined us on the Canoe Scotland Expedition by Adventure Solos, you can find details of that event here:
https://www.AdventureSolos.com/canoe-scotland-expedition

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Transcript

EP004 - Caught in the Morocco Earthquake Disaster (with Nick)

Nick: [00:00:00] We'd had a nice meal, had a bit of a sing song with the, the guides and the, the muleteers, gone to bed at about, I don't know, half nine, ten. We were supposed to get up at four in the morning to start the trek up to the summit. And then obviously, just gone 11 o'clock, um, we all got woken up by the earthquake.

Nat: Hello, it's Nat here. Your new co host at Life Changes with Adventure Solos. Adventure Solos help people in their 30s, 40s and 50s rediscover themselves and meet new people. In this episode of Life Changes, Chris and I are speaking to Nick, and amongst other topics, speak about his terrifying but inspiring first hand account of being in Morocco in September 2023, [00:01:00] and being on a charity fundraising trip when an earthquake struck and devastated parts of the country.

It's a really unique and personal account. So stick around and listen to it If you'd like to learn more about Adventure Solos events visit AdventureSolos. com And enter your details to sign up to the mailing 

Nick: list

Welcome

Chris: yeah, i'm chris from adventure solos and host of uh Life Changes podcast. We've recorded a few in the past with Noel as my co host and Nat has kindly agreed to join for Indefinitely, isn't that right Nat? 

Nat: We'll see how we'll see how this goes Chris. It might be terrible This might be a one hit wonder, but hopefully here for the 

Chris: long run.

We're excited to chat with Nick today Nick 

Nick: I met Chris and Nat when I did the East Highland Way [00:02:00] year before last. Um, bit of a spur of the moment on my part. We're meant to be going sailing, which fell through. So I ended up doing the East Highland Way. I thought, what's the worst that could happen? Um, met up with a group.

It was about 10 of us, I think. Um, who I'd never met before, um, obviously, and we set off across Scotland, um, and it turned out to be one of the best things I'd done, to be fair, um, really nice bunch of great people, um, and yeah, had some lovely conversations, um, and it went from there, to be honest. Perhaps it would be 

Nat: interesting to, for you to just give us a brief summary of.

Your whole life. 

Nick: Fair enough. So you're a paramedic, uh, joined the ambulance service 15 years ago after 25 years in the print industry. So late career [00:03:00] change, which I've not regretted, um, really enjoy the job. It's really good. Uh, married for 26 and a bit years. Unfortunately, wife passed away eight years ago.

Um, which is partly one of the reasons I was on the trip to Morocco, um, because it was involved with a hospice that looked after her. Uh, two children, both now left home, both settled, daughter's getting married next year in Cyprus. So I've got that to look forward to, and, uh, son is, um, an environmental economist.

I still have no idea what he actually does for a job, but that's his title. Um, uh, been on a few adventures since my wife passed away, done the East Highland way, the Caledonian canoe trip, been sailing. Um, I've realized now I think that mountains are possibly not my thing. [00:04:00] Um, I tried to do Kilimanjaro and got canceled cause of COVID.

Um, I did a walk up Kader Idris, camped overnight, but then fell over coming down the mountain the following day. And that sort of battered my head a little bit. Uh, and obviously Morocco was, um, thwarted by an earthquake. So, uh, I've decided that possibly mountains I'm giving up on, I might just stick to, uh, flatland from now on.

Um, 

Chris: flat water 

Nick: maybe? Well, preferably yes. I've decided, well, me and my son have signed up to do, um, an Arctic survival, uh, expedition. Year after next in aid of the hospice again, so hopefully we'll complete this 

Chris: one. Wow, that sounds interesting. Go on, what's 

Nick: that then? So, we've got eight days, we do husky sledding, uh, snowshoeing, cross country skiing, we're doing some ice fishing, and then three days [00:05:00] of survival, building your own shelter, sleeping out, building a snow hole, sleeping out in it.

So, quite looking forward to that one. 

Nat: Yeah, well what can go wrong? 

Nick: Yeah, well, yeah 

Chris: Could I say as you started telling that I was like this sounds like a holiday you're talking about going snow Uh sledding on and snowshoeing and stuff and then you're like and then the last three days you're like Yeah, we get chucked out in the cold and gotta survive 

Nat: So tell us about being a paramedic then.

What's 

Nick: that like? It's a, to be, for me, it's a really good job. I thoroughly enjoy it. Um, it can be very frustrating, especially in present times where you're stuck in hospitals with a patient, you can't get them into A& E so you're, you're stuck looking after them, which means we can't go out to other jobs that we would, you know, is what we should be doing.

But it's unfortunate. That's the way the job has gone at the moment. Um, [00:06:00] I enjoy it. It's, um, every day is different, definitely. Um, and we get to drive around, go into everybody's house, have a look around, and it's thoroughly enjoyable. You know, you get to meet nice people. I've met loads of very, very interesting people.

Um, you know, especially the older generation with some of the things that they've been through. Uh, so it's, yeah, it's very, you know, for me, it's a very, really good job. I really enjoy it. Do you 

Chris: feel there's like a typical case or a diff, like, typical day, and I'm sure, obviously, every case must be different, but does there become a pattern, like, is there a lot of old ladies that have fallen over, or?

Nick: Um, we do get a lot of, um, nan downs. Um, unfortunately, the older generation are the sort that don't want to bother you, so they will lie on the floor for X number of hours, they'll fall over at 3 [00:07:00] in the morning, but they won't ring you till 7. Because they don't want to bother anybody. Um, so that, that can be a little frustrating, because you sort of think, well, you know, you could have been up and, up and in hospital hours ago had you rung, but that's the way that they, they think.

Um, there isn't a typical day, to be honest. We tend to sort of do, you'll go through a bad patch where you'll get lots of bad jobs, and then you'll go through periods where you don't do very much other than lifting people off the floor. Yeah, 

Chris: well, what about alcohol related stuff? I imagine, you know, nights out and stuff like that.

Is that a bit of a crap shift? Um, 

Nick: if they're happy drunks, no, to be honest with you. And, and if they aren't happy drunks, then, uh, my opinion is, well, you can sit in the back with us. And have a pleasant drive into hospital and we'll look after you or I'll get my colleagues in blue to come and assist you [00:08:00] and you can go with them and their vehicles aren't as comfortable as ours.

So your choice. 

Chris: So you were meant to do Kilimanjaro because I went up there in 2018. So sort of, it was Christmas five or six years ago. Um, and yeah, really enjoyed the experience, but, but you attempted that and, oh, it got our COVID. What did you say? It 

Nick: got cancelled. So I'd signed up in 2019 and we were supposed to do it in 2020.

Um, obviously that got cancelled because of COVID. Um, which was annoying, but obviously couldn't do anything about it. So, um, when the trip in Morocco came up, I thought, well I'll attempt that instead, because it's, it's lower, but, um, it's still a mountain. So I thought, that's one thing I've always wanted to sort of try and do is, is get up a mountain somewhere.

Um, I've thought about Everest Base Camp. [00:09:00] But a few people had done that from work, um, so I thought, well, I'll try and do something different. So, the trip in Morocco came up. It was in aid of the hospice where my wife was cared for, um, so I thought, yeah, that sounds like a pretty good reason to do it. Um, my son signed up to do it as well, so I thought, well, that'd be nice because he'll be there as well.

So, uh, yeah, we, um, we set off.

It all went a bit wrong. So we flew out, I think it was the 8th or the 9th of September. We had, um, we had a day in Marrakesh. We did the souks and a tour around, uh, Marrakesh and what have you. And then the following day We went out to a village called Arum, which is where we were setting off from. What 

Chris: did you think of Marrakesh?

Nick: Frantic. Um, [00:10:00] I'm glad I've been. It's a 

Nat: bit mental, isn't it? 

Nick: Yeah, I'm glad I've been, I'm glad I've seen it, but I don't think I'd want to do it again. It's a bit overpowering. Yeah, 

Chris: I've been to Morocco a few times. I've spent probably, probably, uh, about five weeks there in total. Maybe, yeah, something, maybe more actually, five or six weeks over various trips, but yeah, I've been to Marrakesh a few times.

I, I do quite like it, but it's like, go down for a few hours downtown, find yourself like, if you're in the square, sure, have a half hour wander round, but then find a little restaurant or something to look onto the square and get away from the hustle and bustle of it. I remember having a, I think, I can't remember if it was a monkey, I think it was a monkey, not a snake, but he, someone had one as a like pet or his thing and it got chucked on my shoulder and I was shitting myself.

The monkey was shitting itself. Um, and the guy was obviously just trying to make some money and yeah, it's not, it's not always brilliant, is it? 

Nick: Sounds [00:11:00] messy. We were fairly fortunate because we had a guide taking us around. So we were sort of shepherded as we were going round. So it wasn't too bad. I'm not sure I'd like to go and wander around on my own.

And 

Nat: so then you went up, did you say you went up into the, towards the Atlas Mountains? Is that, is that where you were going? 

Nick: Yeah, so we went, um, we got taken by bus out to, to say, this village called Arun, which is where we set off from. Um, and the idea was to go to the refuge camp overnight. Then summit, come back, camp overnight at the refuge again, and then back down into a room and back into Marrakesh for a day.

Um, which was the itinerary when we set off. So 

Chris: Nick, just step back for me a little bit. So you're there to climb Mount Tube Cow, which is Well, fill me in. What's Mount Tube Cow? What were you What was the [00:12:00] challenge? 

Nick: So the challenge was it's the highest point in the Atlas Mountains. So it's, I think, 4, 180 meters.

Um, and the idea was literally just to climb that in aid of the hospice. And 

Chris: you're a group of people? So 

Nick: yeah, just a group of, um, people that had signed up to do it. I was fortunate. Obviously I had my son with me, um, I knew one of the women who was doing it because she works at the hospice, so I'd met her before and, um, unbeknown to me, someone that I did my paramedic course with and who I know and I've been friends with for about 12 or 15 years, um, had signed up with three of his friends to do it.

Um, and we've had a few walks prior to going, um, we've been out in various groups and bits and pieces. So we'd all met, um, so I didn't know who I was going with on this trip. And we'd all met prior to going. [00:13:00] Um, so we were fairly fortunate, a bit like when we did the East Highland way. We ended up with two paramedics and two doctors.

So we had a fairly good medical cover. Um, so. One of the guys was a trek doctor who came with the trek company and the other was one of the GPs who works at the hospice. So, so we had a sort of a reasonable amount of medical expertise, shall we say. Um, and that was the plan was that we were going to do it.

And we'd, I think we were, we were on for about 30, 000 by that time between. All of us. So we, we, um, we've done quite well raising money for them and everyone was happy. Everyone was ready for it. Um, the first day was really nice. We're sort [00:14:00] of steady trek up. Um, our mules were a bit late setting off. So when we got up to base camp or sort of the refuge, we were about three or 400 metres down from where they'd normally camp.

Um, which turned out. To be actually quite good for us in the end, um, when the earthquake happened. So we'd had a nice meal, had a bit of a sing song with the. The guides and the muleteers gone to bed at about, I don't know, half nine, ten, we were supposed to get up at four in the morning to start the trek up to the summit.

And then obviously, just gone 11 o'clock, um, we all got woken up or disturbed by the earthquake. Which was not what we'd been expecting. 

Chris: Yeah. So you, you really felt it and it shook you awake kind of thing. Everyone was up and knew what it was. Yeah. I think 

Nick: we all rapidly realized what, what had [00:15:00] happened.

Chris: Do you know that that was a possibility? Like when I've been to Morocco, it's never really crossed my mind that it's, uh, you know, uh, an earthquake zone or that, so not. 

Nick: No, so we'd, we'd had a briefing by the Trek doctor the night before, and obviously he'd mentioned Rockfall and what have you, which, you know, I'd sort of seen some videos of people doing the Trek prior to going and thought, yeah, well, it's a possibility.

But no, certainly an earthquake never crossed any of our minds when we were going, going to bed that 

Nat: night. What's it like to be in an earthquake? I mean, obviously there's, there's an epicenter and don't know how far away you were, but was, was the building moving that you're in? Was it a loud noise? What was the experience like?

Nick: So we were actually in tents. We weren't in the buildings at that time. Um, so we were, we were like, obviously you're lying on the floor. We, my son worked out, we were about 40 miles from the epicenter, [00:16:00] um, where we were. So, I mean, the tents moved, definitely. Um, it was, yeah, you, you weren't going to stay on your sleeping mat.

So everyone sort of got out of the tents. Obviously at that height, there's no light. Um, so all you could see was, um, sparks where rocks were hitting one another. But you had no idea where they were coming from or where they were going to. So it was just a question of sort of stay where we were really until it all settled.

The earthquake itself was probably, I don't know, no more than a minute, minute and a half. But obviously the rock fall. That was continuing after that because we were in a valley. So it was coming that you could hear it coming down both sides of you. Um, but where we were was sort of on a little plateau.

So, anything coming down had to sort of come back up at us. Um, and as I say, where we can't, [00:17:00] um. Where we should have been camping, the tents there were hit by rocks and the buildings, but no one was hurt. Amazingly, none of our group were injured, none of, nobody in the refuge was hurt at all. Um, which was quite amazing really when you think about it.

Um, so obviously we, we decided that we would have to just stay put till daylight. To work out whether we could actually get back down, sort of come to the realisation that we weren't going any further up at that point. Are 

Chris: you in a bit of a spot that you think is a little bit, or as safe as it can be, and that's why you're not moving?

And, and if that's the case, what's the atmosphere like? Is it, is everyone scared and on edge, or is it just like, this is what's happening and we're going to sit it out? 

Nick: Oh no, everyone was, um, pretty freaked out by that point. Um, the guides obviously, again, they had no idea. Yeah. Of how [00:18:00] steel with it because it's not something that you've been through either.

Because I mean, the last earthquake was what 6070 years, at least before this one. So, um, they've dealt with rockfall, I presume, but they certainly haven't dealt with anything like that. So, but the decision was made that we would be best waiting for daylight because we'd no idea what the path down would be like.

And they thought attempting that in the dark was probably a little bit too dangerous. And we didn't know if there'd be any aftershocks or any further rockfall. So where we were was reasonably safe. There was a few pretty large boulders to sort of sit behind. Um, I actually went back to sleep. Um, because I think we were all so tired.

Yeah, there was apparently another big landslide at about three in the morning, which I'd slept through. Um, fortunately, so I didn't feel too bad in the morning when I woke up. [00:19:00] But yeah, everyone was sort of, I don't think anybody took their shoes 

Nat: off. But the minute and a half sounds like a really long time.

Nick, I'm intrigued to hear. What that was like, because you know, I would have guessed it'd be like 10 seconds, so a minute and a half must have felt like an awful long time. 

Nick: To be fair, I mean, the earthquake itself might not have been a minute and a half, but obviously because the rocks coming down, everything's still rumbling.

So whether that was Just the rockfall coming down is hard to say. I know there was a couple of aftershocks, um, like fairly minor, but you could definitely feel them. Um, but everyone was out of the tents by then and we were just all sort of sitting around just, I think, just reassuring one another, just making sure that everyone was all right.

Nat: What was going through your head, surely, you know, the adrenaline must have been flowing, you know, when this minute and a half rock falls, you don't really know what's going on, you [00:20:00] realize what's going on, you think, did you think, this could be it for me here, I don't know what's really outside this tent, what's going to fall on me, you know?

We 

Nick: did. I was definitely thinking, I don't know whether we're getting down from here. Um, and obviously I had my son with me, so that was a bit worrying because I, you know, obviously having lost my wife already, I was seeing all my daughters at home and if anything happens to us two, then she's on her own.

Um, she had her own problems because working for the hospice, she was the link between the hospice, the trek company and all the next of kin. Um, and apparently she woke up in the morning and just had this message from the trek company to say there's been a major earthquake. We have no contact with the group.

We don't know what's going on. So apparently she sort of, she went off at the deep end. Um, I managed [00:21:00] to get signal, um, fairly early in the morning. Um, and I managed to get a message to her, I managed to actually speak to her and just reassure her that we were okay, which I think settled her down an awful lot.

Um, but obviously she was having to deal, because obviously everyone was contacting her to say, well, what's going on? Where's my relative? You know, so I think she was, she was dealing with a fair bit herself as well. Um, but yeah, we were, we were, I think we were all of the opinion that that could. Be the end of it that we might not be getting down 

Nat: after the initial earthquake, you know, you've got the What sounds like a very scary situation for the couple of minutes?

But then it also sounds like which I wouldn't have appreciated less Here you talk about it, which is the we actually need to get out of this situation It's not as simple as we've survived it, you know We've now did you feel like you were kind of in danger just being where you [00:22:00] were? 

Nick: Yes. Yeah. I mean, we walked up to the refuge, which was only sort of three, four hundred meters up.

Um, that had been hit by rocks. 

Chris: Nick, sorry, what's the refuge? Is this a wooden building or, or, or 

Nick: what? No, it's stone. So there's, there's about two or three stone buildings up there. Um, we chatted to one of the, so they've got, um, a constant police presence up there. Because they like to know who's going up and down, obviously.

Um, and their building was hit by a rock, probably the size of a camper van. that had come to rest by the, by their, you know, by their bedroom. Um, and we chatted to one of the guards and he was like, Oh yeah, that just came down during the night. So we, we came outside and he was quite blase about it, to be fair.

Um, but when we walked up, so. We would have got up to the refuge and then set off along the path up to, [00:23:00] um, there's like a, a ridge and a coal that goes up and then two colours tucked behind the mountains. Um, and that was just covered in fresh scree. And the guide said that would have been where we were about 5 o'clock in the morning.

He said, so if we'd have been on that, you would not have been coming down, you'd have been wiped out, because the whole path had just disappeared. Um, and obviously he said, you know, what it's like further up, they will have no idea for quite some time. So yeah, that sort of brought it home to you when you saw the rock fall down either side.

Um, yeah, it was, it was a little bit iffy, uh, even coming down. There was a few bits where the guides were saying, just don't stop on this point, just keep moving, get down to the lower section. Um, because there was still stuff falling, even as we were coming down, so it was a little bit 

Chris: tense. Just going back to that [00:24:00] conversation then you had with your daughter when you got through, like, do you know how long you spoke to her or what you said or anything?

It 

Nick: was pretty much 30, 30 seconds, 60 seconds, because I lost the signal. Um, I just reassured her that we were all right. We haven't been hurt. The whole group was fine and that we were coming down. 

Chris: So you'd reached out to her? This was immediately, oh, this was the next morning, was it? 

Nick: Yeah. So once we'd, once it was light enough, they, one of the, the guides went down by a mule to see how far he could get, make sure the path was all right.

And when he came back, he said, yeah, we can get down to a room, which is where we'd set off from. So. We just set off as soon as everyone was ready. We just got everything packed up and left. Which was a bit disappointing because we didn't actually even see Tukul, because you can't see it from where we were.

So, um, we've seen the refuge, which is You know, something, I suppose. 

Nat: So you saved it for another day, but it sounds like you've [00:25:00] maybe been put off, uh, climbing up high mountains for life after this experience. 

Nick: Yeah, maybe. I might be giving it to me, so I don't know. When 

Nat: you got down to, you know, the town that you sussed out from, I'm interested to hear, did that sort of sound like, you know, salvation, that you'd, you're out of this dangerous 

Nick: situation?

So when we got down there, a room itself is pretty much away from major hills or anything like that. Um, there were some buildings that were damaged. And they said, unfortunately, we can't get any vehicles in because the roads are blocked. And we had a little walk around and when you walked out along the road, you thought, yeah, there's nothing coming down here because the roads were pretty bad.

Um, and there was, uh, three lads who'd actually trekked in that morning. Um, ex forces. And they were supposed to be climbing Tukul that day, [00:26:00] um, and they said the nearest they got was 18 kilometers away and then they'd had to walk from there because there was no, no way that they could get any vehicles down the roads.

Um, so they said we'll have to, we'll have to camp there for the night, which to me wasn't a big deal because we were meant to be camping up at the refuge anyway, so. They thought, well, that's not, it's, we've just moved where we're camping. Um, there was some building damage there. Um, everyone had been advised to get out of their houses, so they were all sleeping in the orchards and fields around the village.

Um, with whatever they could sort of take out the houses at the time, um, and then as we were walking around, uh, the leader of the trek company, Lee Caroline came up and said, there's been some Children injured. Would we be willing to go and have a look at them? So we. Me and the doctor and Keith, the other [00:27:00] paramedic who was with us went and there was a young girl, 17 year old who'd run out of the house when the earthquake happened and been hit by a boulder and it had, um, smashed her femur.

So she had, um, quite a bad break in her leg and she'd been there about 14 hours when we got to her. Um, and her brother, who they didn't mention her brother until about an hour later. Um. He'd sort of got quite a nasty ankle fracture and, um, extensive sort of skin damage on his heel. So we had a look at them and we thought, well, She's really not in a good way.

She's actually bleeding out through that broken leg. Um, she definitely needs hospital. So we were sort of logistically trying to work out how we would get her out because we thought if she stays here, she potentially will die. Um, So the three lads who were, [00:28:00] who trekked in said, well, we'll carry her out.

So we were like, well, you just trekked in 18k and they went, doesn't matter. We'll carry her out 18k if we have to. So, um, we made a plan to actually carry her. Um, and then we managed to get her in the back of a pickup truck and the local, like villages all along the route had been clearing the road. So they managed to get her to where.

They could get an ambulance too, but there was a boulder probably the size of a house that had come down in the road, nothing, obviously no vehicles were going past that, but what they had said to us is, if she just goes to hospital, they won't treat her, they'll just stick her on a corridor, but if one of you goes with her, they will actually sort of deal with her.

So Keith, the other paramedic, traveled back into Marrakesh with her that night. Um. I think he said it took about four and a half hours and they had to visit four hospitals before they found one that would accept her. [00:29:00] Um, and her brother went out with her as well. So when we got down to Marrakesh the following day, we found out they were both well in hospital and they were being looked after and she was just going down for surgery.

So, um, It was left at that really. We didn't know anything else, but yeah, they were the two worst injuries. 

Chris: It's quite shocking to hear. It just really brings it home. I mean, that's quite emotional, even just listening to that and what happened to that, the girl in particular. But yeah, it's incredible, isn't it?

And it's nice that the guys. Sort of pulled together and said, yeah, if we have to track out Karina, we'll do that. But, and I guess, how did it feel for you at the time? Like, I think we've had a bit of conversation before about how. You have to, in your sort of role as a paramedic, how you, I guess, mentally deal with that or compound mentalize or whatever, did, did you feel you were sort of, did you just go into work mode, if you will?

[00:30:00] And it was just, let's deal with a problem or did it feel more personal or more emotional because it wasn't a work thing or does that make any sense? 

Nick: Yeah, so we went into work mode. Um. It was slightly more personal because we were, we were obviously, we hadn't got the kit that we'd normally have with us, so it was frustrating that we couldn't do a lot.

Um, we were fortunate we had the TREC doctor with us who had a, a sort of, a small first aid kit. Um, so we could give us some fluids and antibiotics and some painkillers. Um, to help, but yeah, it was, it was frustration more than anything else. I think, um, we hadn't realized obviously we were, I think we were on the roof for some reason.

They thought the best thing to do with it was carry her up onto a roof terrace, um, which meant we had to get her back down again as well. 

Nat: I was just going to sort of try and ask you a bit, a bit more about, um, the broad, um, [00:31:00] What happened in the country as a whole, you said you were about 40 miles or kilometers from the epicenter because there were several thousand people died.

Where was the majority of the damage? Was it close by you or were you seeing other people that were doing rescue exercises? 

Nick: We didn't, um, because obviously we were fairly isolated by that point and nobody could really move around that much because of the road system being blocked. Um, and obviously all the most of the.

Communications was down as well. So I think that they were struggling to coordinate what was going on. I'm sure that there was stuff going on everywhere. Um, so we, we got down. Um, it was only when we got down that we found out. That one of our muleteers who'd been looking after us had lost four sons, and he didn't even know till we got down, um, me and my [00:32:00] son came down a bit earlier than the rest of the group, owing to the fact that I'd been ill, um, and we'd been shipped out, um, and we got down an hour or so before the rest of the group, um, so we knew what had happened, we knew he'd lost his son, so we sort of My son went up and informed the group just in case, obviously, when they got down, they started sort of being happy and cheering or whatever and said, well, just hold it down because, you know, this is, this has happened, but he didn't know till he got down, he wasn't informed about his son's, um, so that sort of brought it a little bit closer for us as well.

Um, so what happened when we got back? Marrakesh itself looked pretty much the same as when we'd left it. A few days earlier, they were still putting up lampposts and still planting palm trees in the pavements and what have you, um, there'd been some damage there. There'd been a little bit of a, you know, [00:33:00] um, they felt it there, obviously.

But, um, it's still pretty much the same. Um, the guides that we had were going back up into the Atlas mountains to try and help, um, not necessarily in the villages that they came from, but just going back up to do what they could do. Um, we had a sort of conversation, um, sort of those sort of. conversations you have and saying, Oh, we need to do something.

We need to help. Um, we donated a lot of our kit that we'd taken with us for them to take back up with them. So it's sleeping bags, clothes, and what have you. Um, on the way back, we were chatting and saying, we need to do some more to help them. So we decided we get donated or get stuff donated. Um, so we ended up with about 16 suitcases full of clothes and sleeping [00:34:00] bags and sanitary products and what have you.

But the cost of actually chipping it back out there was astronomical. Um, we were fortunate. One of the girls, Lucy, who was with us on the trek, um, worked for EasyJet. So she managed to get a deal for us. It was 60 quid for us to travel back out there, return flights. with two 23 kilo suitcases. So we said, right, well, we'll organize that.

So we went back about three weeks later, um, and met up with our guide and went back up with him into one of the villages where he was helping out. Um, which I think had more, a bit more of an impact on me than the actual event itself, because you see it on the news and you go, oh dear, that's terrible. You know, that must be awful.

But when you're actually there and you can taste the dust and the. You know, smell [00:35:00] the smells and see the sights. It brings it home a hell of a lot more. Um, so the village we went up to, there was some buildings left. But they were uninhabitable. So there's 800 odd people living in shelters, which aren't really waterproof.

Um, there's about two toilets for 800 odd people. Um, Hisham, our guide, uh, Was making sure they were fed three times a day and they'd all got shelter and they'd all got clothes. And he's not official. He's just done that because he feels he should. Um, and we'd thought we had 16 cases of of gear to take out, which we thought was a lot.

But when you think that's gotta go between 800 people, that doesn't go very far. Um, but we had a night there with them. Um, [00:36:00] which it was, yeah, definitely an eye opener, as I say, I think that had more impact on me than the actual initial event seeing the aftermath we went down the road, we walked down about 10 minutes or so down the road to the next village, which doesn't exist anymore.

It's, it's completely gone. Um, there was an area by the side of the road and Hisham said that there's 128 people in there buried. Um, and they're the people that they have found, they're the, you know, they'll be people that they'll never find, that they're just gone. So, yeah, that, that had a big, big impact.

And, unfortunately, you know, obviously, there was a massive amount of other things happened. There was the floods, then there was earthquakes elsewhere and what have you, and unfortunately, Morocco disappeared from the news, 

Chris: really. I thought that as well. Everybody knew about it. So September [00:37:00] 23, it was headline news, but like you say, within a week or two, it felt like other stuff was happening.

And yeah, unfortunately there's other stuff going on in the world as well at the moment. And yeah, it disappeared very quickly, didn't it? 

Nick: But they're still up there. They're still in the shelters and they will be for probably two years. before they can start rebuilding. So, you know, they still need help. 

Chris: Is there a fundraising link or something we can put below, so that if people still want to help or contribute, then they can do that?

I'm sure that 

Nick: there, there is a, there is a, um, a link somewhere. Yeah, we didn't go through one because we just took it ourselves to make sure it went to the people we wanted it to go to, you know. 

Nat: Seemingly, there'll be international Organizations now Red Cross and something like that. We can put a link below people.

I mean, certainly hearing your story, Nick. It certainly makes me want to do something because like you say, you hear about these tragedies in the world's a big [00:38:00] place. So there's always something unfortunately happening, which is. Pretty tragic, but actually, you know, it's that personal story that like you've told us today that you think, oh, that's real people actually that are, um, that are, you know, dying and, and being left in terrible situations.

So, um, or you, all right, you can't help everybody. That doesn't mean you don't, you know, you doesn't mean you don't help anybody at all. 

Nick: Yeah. I think we realized that when we went out there, you know, um, to be fair, the Moroccan people. Uh, fantastic. I can't speak highly enough of them. Um, like you were saying earlier, you know, um, Thailand, the land of smiles.

I have to say Morocco when we went back out and we were handing stuff out. They waited patiently to be given things. They didn't try and force it off you. They thanked you afterwards. They were, you know, polite, respectful. They were absolutely [00:39:00] wonderful. Whilst we were there and we were looked after wonderfully.

Um, the one good thing that came out of it is when we went back, um, we managed to find the girl and the brother that we'd helped there at their uncle's house in Marrakesh. Um, and she's walking, so she's had her leg repaired, um, and she's being looked after. And yeah, she's, um, she's up and around and walking, which is Utterly wonderful, you know, knowing that.

Chris: Did your son go back with you as well when you went back? 

Nick: No, he, he couldn't, um, he didn't have any more time off work, stupidly. Um, because he's 26, so we came back from Morocco, I think on the Monday or the Tuesday. And on the Friday, he went and did the three peaks over the weekend with his firm in aid of another charity.

Um, so he'd already had too much time off work. Um, so yeah, although he didn't manage to get up too cool, he managed to, um, do [00:40:00] the three peaks over the weekend. So, uh, yeah, he was quite happy about that. 

Chris: Have you and your son chatted at all about it? Like, have you, I mean, how was he during the whole thing?

And obviously it sounds like you got separated when you were looking after the woman or the girl that had hurt a leg. How did you feel that went? We've 

Nick: had a few chats about it. Um, people put things up afterwards on because we had a, like a WhatsApp group with the, with the people we went with, we've all met up afterwards as well and had a sort of chat and what have you, um, he seems okay about it.

Um, he put something on the chat group afterwards. Which made me stop and think, um, there's no way I can read it out to you. It's a little bit too, uh, too raw. Um, but yeah, I mean, for him, for a 26 year old to write what he wrote, [00:41:00] um, was quite, uh, Was quite eye opening to be honest with you. Um, but I think that that helped him an awful lot and he got, he got it out in the open as to how he felt.

So yeah, I think that was good for him, you know, and everybody's chatted on the, on the group as well. Because someone at the time said to us, how do me and Keith deal with things that we see on What I Do? And we said exactly how we're doing as a group, which is to talk. Um, if you want to cry, cry, if you wouldn't need to laugh, laugh, you know.

I mean, we tend to deal with it with rather dark humor and, and laugh about things. But yeah, we, we have a chat and we've had chats and what have you, and the hospice has been good that they've arranged any counseling people might need to deal with it and what have you. So they, they've really helped as 

Chris: well.

Do you think having, I guess, gone through what you did with, with your, you know, your [00:42:00] family eight years ago, I guess that was maybe a sort of. In a way, almost a platform where you've got that bond and relationship that then helps to deal with stuff like this a little bit. 

Nick: Definitely. Yeah. Um, I know that after my wife passed away, my son and my daughter talked to each other a lot more, um, talk to each other about things that they wouldn't talk to me about, which is maybe a good thing.

Um, so yeah, but we still chat, you know, definitely. Were, were in contact an awful lot. Um, obviously my daughter threatened that we were never allowed to go away together again. Um, So, and she wasn't overly impressed when we both said that we'd sign up to do this Arctic challenge thing as well. But, but you can't stop doing things, can you?

You've, you've got to keep going and do stuff. There's no point in sitting at home. You've got to [00:43:00] get out there and do things. 

Chris: Yeah, that's it. You've got to live life. 

Nat: Positive that you were there. Like, alright, you didn't do the challenge that you set out to do, but that's life. Things happen, things change, and you were there to save, potentially, that woman's leg.

Like that's the bottom line. You, you've maybe saved her from now that, that lady can maybe walk the rest of her life just because you happened to be there. So, all right, you didn't walk up a mountain, but maybe you've done something more important. 

Nick: Yeah. I mean, you know, we know something good came out of it at the end of it.

You know, we didn't, as I say, we didn't quite complete the task that we set out to do, but we did something else. So, we're happy, you know. Will 

Nat: you still have an ongoing link, do you think, with Morocco? Um, or do you feel like that's kind of, you know, that you've been there and that was an experience, and you've done your bit and life moves on to other things and other experiences and [00:44:00] helping other people?

Nick: Um, no, so we're still in contact with, with Hisham, the guide. Um, we still have regular sort of contact with him, see how he's getting on and things and what's going on. Um, one of the group went out last week, um, and met up with him. Um, so yeah, I think, I think it will be ongoing. I think we will do more stuff.

It's, um, it's just trying to organize it. Obviously, you've got 12. People who have their own lives and what have you, you know, so trying to reorganize something where we could all go and do stuff. We've all said we'd like to finish the Trek. Whether we, whether we'll actually manage to do it or not is another matter.

I think some of, some of the group feel that they don't want to take on anything else till they finish that, whereas I sort of think, well, that can be [00:45:00] done at some point, but there's other things to be, to be going on with as well. You know, there's other things that we can do. So, hence why, you know, we, me and my son have.

Booked up for the Arctic challenge. Um, we might not be able to get back to Morocco for a couple of years. I don't know. I think at the moment for me, it's probably still a little bit too soon. 

Chris: I think that makes sense, doesn't it? As in, it'd be nice if you do this Arctic thing in a couple of years, and then let's say a couple of years after that, and you're sort of a bit more at peace with it, and you can go back and see the progress, and see people with their lives re established.

Maybe that's a nicer thing to do, as you say, further down the line. 

Nat: Generally speaking, these adventures that you're signing up to for experience, if I can call them that, and what you've been doing with Chris at Adventure Solos. Um, are these things that you thought you, you know, you would be doing 20 years ago?

I'm interested in that. And then also, [00:46:00] um, what would you say to people who perhaps haven't done anything like that? Would you say, it sounds like you've got a taste for these now, I mean, some people just don't do anything like this. And then you're actually taking them on and almost sounds like you're making them part of your life.

Nick: Well, yeah, so, I did, so I did the East Highland Way with Chris and I did a couple of day walks. Afterwards in one of you, um, I've always sort of thought, well, certainly since the wife passed away, try it. You don't know, you might like it, you know, um, so the year following her death. One of the guys at work said, I take part in a, you know, uh, uh, sailing regatta with the ambulance service.

Do you fancy it? We've got a space on a boat. And I thought, well, I've always fancied trying sailing. So I thought, you know, if I don't like it, I don't have to go again. Um, just go and try it. And I did the [00:47:00] same with the East Highland Way as well. You know, I'd never really done anything like that before. Um, and I thought, well, you, you've got to try these things.

I mean, you know, if you don't like it. Don't do it again, but you might. Um, I think Sam, obviously, when she came on the East Highland Way, had never done anything. But she thoroughly enjoyed it, and she's, you know, when she was in Bute, Scotland, she was forever putting stuff up as to where she'd been. She'd been on walks and camped out and what have you, you know.

Um, we obviously didn't see her on the, uh, canoe trip. Um, we didn't realize until we got there, she doesn't like water. Or doesn't like deep water. 

Chris: But moved to an island in Scotland. She hadn't 

Nat: read Chris's small print, had she, that this canoe trip was going to be on water? 

Nick: We, um, we got there the first day, um, and she said, I'll come in your boat because you'll be sensible.

Um, I [00:48:00] don't know what gave her that impression. So she sat right at the bow. And we pushed off and we were just in the canal, so there's no movement of water or anything and she completely freaked out. Um, she really didn't like it. She was not happy, but we managed to calm her down. Um, and, you know, she, she completed it and she did enjoy it as we were going along.

She had a bit of a moment on, uh, one of the locks when a, uh, like a pleasure cruiser went past one of the big tourist boats and created quite a bit of chop. Um, and the, the boat definitely bounced then and she wasn't very happy there. Um, but she, you know, she, she enjoyed the whole trip. So again, you don't know whether you'll enjoy it till you try it.

Go and do stuff. 

Nat: But there's kind of like a, it's like a leap of faith, isn't there though? Cause it sounds like the first one that maybe gave you a taste [00:49:00] was actually someone else saying, Nick, why don't you come on this? But then after that, maybe it's been a bit more proactive, like you've actually gone and sought out the experience.

Nick: Yeah, I thought after I'd been sailing, I took on the one in Croatia, um, and that was really enjoyable. And that again was with a group of people I'd never met before. Um, just arrived at the airport and met them. And then we flew out and did the trip and what have you, so that was really good. Um, The canoe trip was brilliant, really enjoyed that.

Um, yeah, and as I say, yeah, you just gotta do stuff. You know, you can sit, as I say, you can sit in the house an awful long time like you're saying that. Some people never leave where they're born. You know, never go and explore the world and what have you. Go on, have a look. I said the same to, you know, my daughter when she came home one day and said, Oh, I've been [00:50:00] offered a job on a cruise ship.

Do you think I should take it? And I went, yes, go, go and see the world. You know, if you don't like it, you can always come 

Chris: home. It's surprising, isn't it? I've been away in the past and you can. Like I did my Africa trip or whatever, but I've done a few things that have been like six or 12 months, something like that, six, nine, 12 months.

And you come back and you've been so stimulated. I mean, that's doing that sort of stuff at the moment is in Thailand, but you come back and you've been so stimulated every day and you've seen such a lot. And in a way you do kind of get a lot of world experience and you grow up and you come back and they always expect everything to have changed a lot.

And then it always takes me by surprise because. It's actually, you've not really been away that long in the context of things and all the shops are still the same and everyone's just getting on with normal life and nothing, everything's the same. You've not missed out. 

Nick: No, things will still be there, you know, obviously stuff does change and what have you, but generally things stay the same, don't they?

You know, um, she went away, my daughter went, worked on a cruise ship, came home for a while, went and [00:51:00] worked in Cyprus for a year, came home, you know, she's. She can say she's done some things, you know, she can say, I've been away, I've done stuff. Whereas other people just sit at home, you know, maybe go to the coast for their holiday or whatever you and then come back or go abroad, but find an English pub, go and experience stuff, go and try things.

Yeah, meet, meet 

Nat: people as well, right? You know, that's a big part of it. And it sounds like, you know, that Morocco experience, obviously it wasn't what you signed up for, but you've presumably made some friends for life during, during that experience. 

Nick: Certainly have. I've also met a relative I didn't know I had, because Lucy turns out to be related via my wife's family.

Um, so she's, I don't know, she's the great niece of my father in law's brother. So there is a link. Um, [00:52:00] but I didn't know that till, till we got there and my sister in law texted me and said, that girl that you're with there, you know, this is the relationship sort of thing. So yeah, go and do, go and do it.

Meet people and, you know, make friends. 

Nat: Yeah, and it's like a window into a different kind of way of life, and I think it just challenges your mindset, doesn't it? Yeah, 

Nick: I mean, when we got back, initially, we got back into Marrakesh, as I say, I wasn't, I wasn't particularly well, so I'd stayed at a hotel, but my son went off, decided to go and have a massage, and, uh, walk round the souks by himself, um, came back with some souvenirs, and, uh, I said, do you have a nice time?

He said, oh yeah, he said, this is what I've been doing. As he'd gone round, he'd bought his souvenirs, and as he was walking back, um, the fella from the shop was going past him on a, like a motorbike, and said, Where are you going? He said, I'm going back to my hotel. And he said, Well, get on the back then. [00:53:00] So, I've got, watching a video of my son, no helmet on, riding through the souks and the streets of Marra, you know, Marrakesh, on his way back, and I thought, But we've just survived an earthquake.

Go and do it, why not? You know, so yeah, you go and do these things and enjoy life. 

Chris: Thank you for sharing that with us. 

Nat: Thanks for your time. Here are Nick's son's words as he reflects on that moment when the earthquake struck in Morocco. For an instant, I thought I would die. Then, once my brain computed the sound of rocks not getting significantly closer, that thought was tucked away.

Not today. But it was a persistent thought. And as the rocks continued to fall, I reached across and grabbed Dad. If I'm going to die, let me be holding a loved one. In a way, even if I had died, I know that both Dad and I would have been luckier than the rest of the group. [00:54:00] Because We would have had one another at the end.

As the die of chance fell, we were all lucky, but we also know that others were not. We saw with sobering granularity the indifference of death and its circumstances. When I knew that I wasn't dead, I firmly put away the notion that my death was possible. But, when I think back now at the feelings that arose in those moments, I can't help but think of the people in the hospice who die in the arms of their loved ones.

What a bitter happiness that must be. Happiness that they are lucky, in one of the only ways that matters. Sadness at the thought that it all must now end, for the ones they will never see again. I think it will take us all some time to untangle the thoughts and emotions that this experience has left us with, but it certainly refined further for me the importance of the hospice's mission to provide comfort in people's last moments, to [00:55:00] help people in facing death, not happily, but with acceptance.

To give those left behind peace of mind that their loved one did not die scared, or searching for them, or calling their name. We all did a good thing. I look forward to doing more good things with each of you.

Chris: Hey, it's Chris here from Adventure Solos, where we help people in their 30s, 40s and 50s to rediscover themselves and meet new people. If you'd like to find out more about Adventure Solos events, visit adventuresolos. com, that's adventuresolos. com, where you're very welcome to stay in touch by joining the mailing list.

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