“Two nights ago I got a call from him, we were talking and he said, ‘Oh wait mum, we’re getting another tremor...’ and I yelled at him to get outside and then the phone cut off. All I could hear was beep, beep, beep…”
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Margaret Sullivan has been living every parent's nightmare. She knows her son, Josh Molloy, 20, was in Nepal when Saturday's massive earthquake struck, killing more than 5200 people and injuring thousands more.
Josh had spent the past twelve days travelling with his father Carey, friend David Skennerton, and David’s father Mark through Nepal. They were at Base Camp at Mt Everest, half of which has been wiped out with the recent earthquake, with at least 17 reported deaths so far.
The group were due to fly to Kathmandu the day the earthquake hit, before travelling home.
Fortunately Margaret was unaware that anything had occurred until she received a text from Josh’s father.
No mum, I can’t, I can’t help them, it’s just too bad.
- Josh Molloy
“His text said, ‘it’s all ok, we’re all fine.’ So we sent a text back saying, ‘Oh good, travel safe.’ We hadn’t realised anything had happened,” she said.
“Then we got a phone call from him and he was just so anxious and saying ‘let everyone know we’re all alright, we’re not scratched... We were having lunch and we ran out of the building... The buildings were coming down and we’re trekking down [off the mountain] now.’”
“My guts just dropped out.”
In Josh’s few phone calls to his mother, he explained that buildings were falling down all around them.
The small group are still stranded between Base Camp and Lukla a little village where there is a small airport; this airport is ranked one of the worst in the world.
Josh had been involved in the Rural Fire Brigade in Bowning and joined the army in 2012, he was in the thick of things during the Cobbler Road fire. He undertook a lot of first aid training for the Fire Brigade, as well as more first aid and medical training in the Army.
“When I was on the phone to him I said, ‘At least you can feel like you’re doing something to help...’ and he kept saying, ‘no mum, I can’t, I can’t help them, it’s just too bad.’
“It just broke my heart. He described broken backs, fractured compound femurs, just so much damage. His dad said that Josh is just up to his elbows in blood and guts.”
The Bowning man told his mum that there were three helicopters that were able to get up to Base Camp, but could only evacuate a couple of people at a time.
“These helicopters can only hold two people at a time. So they were evacuating the injured and taking them down to where Josh is... These people have been in the avalanche.”
“There was an American doctor there that Josh has been helping.
“I’m so saddened that at 20-years old he has had to cope with this. In saying that, he is probably more prepared then a lot of 20-year olds with all the experiences he has had.”
During the nights the boys have taken it in turns sleeping; three sleeping while one stays awake to warn of aftershocks or tremors.
“My guts just dropped out.”
- Margaret Sullivan
The Telegraph reported on Tuesday that Carey Molloy, Joshua and David were still missing, information that Margaret and daughter Emma are relieved is incorrect. They were among dozens of Australians reported missing after the magnitude - 7.9 quake struck, so far reported to have killed more than four-thousand people.
“They are just so lucky, one day before or one day after they would have been so much worse off.
“They have food and water, because they are so remote, all the efforts are going into Kathmandu, they are just starting to get relief packages into these remote parts now.
“The boys have been told by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) that they have no plan in place to get them out of Lukla... We have been told the same thing when we rang DFAT!”
Margaret is currently staying with her daughter Emma on the Central Coast, waiting patiently for the day when she can hold her boy in her arms again.