Andy Stoner
Raquet Sports, United States

Powerblog

I Survived the Christchurch, New Zealand Earthquake

I was selected to represent our country for the 3rd time in a row for the Dubler Cup. This year, it was held in Christchurch, New Zealand. We were all excited after winning our first round of matches, beating Japan easily. On Monday, February 21st at around lunch time, my teammate Rick Leach and I were in our hotel room when everything started to shake. It was a terrifying experience as we both held onto the doorways yelling in a panic.

After it was over, we ran out of the room, down the stairs and out of the hotel. There were car's that had been moved, buildings crumbled, people were running away to get to safety... The hotel next door collapsed, people were injured and everyone was shaken up. 15 minutes later there was an after shock. Everytime there was an aftershock, we would get scared.

We couldn't go back into our hotel, fearing that if we did, the entire structure would collapse and possibly kill us. We decided to drive away from the city, 1 hour outside of Christchurch to Ashburton. Our fellow American woman's cup division was nice enough to let us share the room for the night.

In the end, we were able to retrieve the rest of our belongings from the hotel room. It was scary going back to where it had all happen. It looked like a war zone with search and rescue teams everywhere.

I'm am fortunate to be alive.

Posted By:Andy Stoner On 25 Feb 2011 AT 1:04 | 0 COMMENTS
Topics:

COMMENTS

     * Log in or Register to post a comment

   

LOCATION

Arizona, United States

NETWORKS

Raquet Sports, Athletes/Active Lifestyle

ABOUT ME

Currently, Andy is ranked #1 in the USTA Men's 45's Singles and ITF #3 in the world. He ha…MORE