A Welsh firefighter has had an emotional reunion with his children after returning home from saving lives in Turkey, which continues to deal with the horrific aftermath of a series of earthquakes - the first of which measured 7.8 on the Richter scale - which have resulted in thousands losing their lives.
There were tearful scenes on Thursday as dad-of-two Phil Irving surprised his eight-year-old son Evan and his 14-year-old daughter Esmei by arranging to have them pulled out of class at Ysgol Caer Elen in Haverfordwest to let them know he was back home. The 46-year-old is one of 77 search and rescue specialists from 14 fire and rescue services across the UK deployed to Turkey with the UK-ISAR team through the UK Government's Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.
Phil - a watch manager at Harverfordwest station with Mid & West Wales Fire Service - had spent the past week saving people entombed in the rubble of wrecked buildings. As the death toll surges past 40,000 across Turkey and Syria following , Phil had cause to hug his kids a little tighter when he picked them up at Ysgol Caer Elen school, in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire yesterday.
Read more: This could be the most clogged-up residential road in Wales
“I’ve witnessed the pain and anguish of so many people in Turkey who will never get to see their loved ones again - really emphasises the importance of family,” he said. "My eight-year-old boy Evan is my shadow and, unfortunately, he really struggled emotionally with me being away. That was tough because by definition of us doing what we want to do, to save lives as part of the UK Government’s response to help people, we actually impart a bit of emotional trauma on the people closest to us. Our families.
“It hurt me to know that Evan was upset about me being in Turkey, which is why I really wanted to surprise them at the school. Evan brought tears to my eyes, let me tell you. I was in reception and one of the teachers went to get Evan with a bit of a cover story. He came round the corner and saw me, and we had a bit of a cry together. He wears his heart on his sleeve. I think he was just so happy to see me that he was overwhelmed by emotion, which made me cry.”
Phil and his UK-ISAR colleagues have returned home, as the UK Government’s humanitarian response switches from rescue to recovery. International Development Minister Andrew Mitchell has committed £25million in new UK aid to fund additional emergency relief for families made homeless in Turkey and Syria by last week’s devastating quakes.
Phil added: “My biggest takeaway when you consider what the people of Turkey are going through, is that it emphasises the importance of family. It so easy to take our lives for granted. And there’s a massive part of me that is guilty that after everything I’ve seen, all the people who have lost loved-ones, that I do get a reunion with my wife and kids. One hundred per cent. It’s just the fact that I have had the opportunity to reconnect with my kids when so many people in Turkey and Syria can’t.
“We all knew that we would be reunited with our families and so it doesn’t matter what hardship we faced out there because everything we knew we’d be coming back. At night, if I was freezing in the tent, I’d just think straight away ‘There’s people out there who haven’t even got a tent. They haven’t even got a sleeping mat.’ My adversity was temporary. I hate seeing human beings suffer. What we went through is absolutely nothing compared to the pain and grief people in Turkey and Syria will be dealing with as they attempt to rebuild their communities.”
Dad-of-two Phil has been a firefighter for almost 24 years. He has been volunteering with UK-ISAR for 17 years and has been part of the Indonesia (2009) and Haiti (2010) earthquake responses. He said: “In all honesty, I do not know how to sum up the past week or so. It’s sounds like a cliché but you are working flat and running on adrenaline. I found when I went to Haiti, a lot of the emotional processing happens in the days and weeks after you get back rather than in the moment.
“This has been a different experience for me because I spent time away from Esmei when she was Evan’s age, up to eight weeks at a time, and she seemed to cope with it better, but everybody is different. Esmei got pulled out of class just afterwards and she was a bit calmer. We are so happy to see each other but she manages her feelings more than Evan. She has told me that the training, the experience I have, who I am as a person, meant that helped her to cope.
“She has a maturity that she realises that if the situation was reversed and it was the UK that had been hit by a massive disaster, we’d be hoping people from around the world would come to our rescue. I think that everyone in the country should be proud that the UK Government funds resources like UK-ISAR and the UK-Emergency Medical Team, which stand ready to step up and save lives when there is a humanitarian disaster such as what we are seeing in Turkey and Syria right now.”
As the situation on the ground moves into in a new phase, from rescue to recovery, the UK is committing a further package of support to address urgent humanitarian needs in Turkey and Syria. The £25 million in new overseas aid will fund additional emergency relief, such as tents and blankets for families made homeless in freezing conditions, and the ongoing deployment of world-class UK medical expertise through the joint MoD-FCDO Field Hospital established in Turkoglu, eastern Turkey. It also will support the work of the UN and aid agencies on the ground in Syria, helping communities ravaged by war and this national disaster.
UK Minister for Development Andrew Mitchell said: “The UK Government is proud that brave Welsh firefighters and medics have been at the very heart of our efforts to help the Turkish people in their hour of need. Both the UK-ISAR and UK-EMT pool world-leading expertise from across Britain to make a real difference in reacting to humanitarian disasters around the globe. The UK Government’s priority now is to ensure that humanitarian assistance reaches the thousands of families left homeless by the earthquake. It will be so vital in ensuring those affected can begin to rebuild their lives.”
Read next:
- Dead fish found after slurry spill turns crystal clear river brown
- Street artist transforms building with vibrant murals
- No-one to prosecuted over Llanegennech train crash and fire
- Wales' most expensive property for sale
- Man claims Sports Direct worker refused him defibrillator
Find out about the latest local issues where you live
