
Sign up to save your podcasts
Or


"It was a Close Protection Officer...who heard me. Had I not decided to knock exactly at that point in time, they would have repaired the backhoe [and] started to dig. They would've destabilised the area over which I was lying and I would not be sitting here today."
It's been over ten years since Senior Civil Affairs Officer, Jens Kristensen found himself trapped in the earthquake that hit Haiti's Hotel Christopher. Jens recounts his harrowing experience of being confined in a dark coffin-like space for five days with no water or drink, not knowing when, or if, he would be rescued. He also explains his remarkable decision to return to work after just two days following the rescue knowing that "mentally and physically I was capable and still able to help."
"It was a terrible, terrible disaster for the UN. For Haiti. For the world...I think that finding me as a survivor gave people hope. It was a light in the darkness. People were there. People were cheering. It was a new birthday."
By United Nations, Melissa Fleming4.9
124124 ratings
"It was a Close Protection Officer...who heard me. Had I not decided to knock exactly at that point in time, they would have repaired the backhoe [and] started to dig. They would've destabilised the area over which I was lying and I would not be sitting here today."
It's been over ten years since Senior Civil Affairs Officer, Jens Kristensen found himself trapped in the earthquake that hit Haiti's Hotel Christopher. Jens recounts his harrowing experience of being confined in a dark coffin-like space for five days with no water or drink, not knowing when, or if, he would be rescued. He also explains his remarkable decision to return to work after just two days following the rescue knowing that "mentally and physically I was capable and still able to help."
"It was a terrible, terrible disaster for the UN. For Haiti. For the world...I think that finding me as a survivor gave people hope. It was a light in the darkness. People were there. People were cheering. It was a new birthday."

6,824 Listeners

43,740 Listeners

3,996 Listeners

377 Listeners

5,488 Listeners

1,819 Listeners

363 Listeners

2,130 Listeners

849 Listeners

14,930 Listeners

23 Listeners

145 Listeners

151 Listeners

1,582 Listeners

2,435 Listeners