By Roya Ghorbani-Elizeh
2009 UP alumna Rachel Prusynski sat down to check her e-mail when the ground beneath her began to tremble.
"At first, it just felt like vibrations from construction next door," Rachel said. "But then it felt like the floor was on an axis and it was tipping over."
Rachel scrambled to get out of the building as a 7.0 earthquake hit Haiti, where she had been visiting her friend, Molly Hightower, another 2009 alumna. The earthquake would leave Rachel physically injured and emotionally distraught over the loss of Molly.
Rachel and Molly had been friends since their junior year at UP. Molly, who had been volunteering with the nonprofit organization Friends of the Orphans since June, invited Rachel to help with the organization during her month- long break from graduate school.
When the earthquake hit, both Rachel and Molly were in the seven-story Father Wasson Center, a former hospital that houses offices and dormitories for Friends of the Orphans volunteers. Rachel and Molly had just returned from the market with groceries and souvenirs.
Molly went to her room on the fifth floor to nap after the market excursion. Rachel went to the seventh floor to check her e-mail.
Then the ground convulsed, and the Father Wasson Center began to collapse.
While she does not remember the falling pillars and debris, Rachel still has recollections of being caught in the rubble.
"I don't remember falling or sinking down to the ground," Rachel said. "However, every night since then, I can close my eyes and feel myself trying to move."
Rachel does not recall how long she was trapped, but she assumes that she was found soon after the earthquake.
"It was so fast, I must have been pulled out in less than a half hour," Rachel said. "I don't even remember getting in the truck when they found me."
After "three Haitian angels" pulled her from the destroyed building, Rachel was taken to the United States embassy in Port-au-Prince.
En route, Rachel realized she was injured and bleeding profusely.
"The one thing I remember vividly is that they gave me a rag to hold to my cut," she said. "I looked out the window and this woman screamed and fainted when she saw me, so I knew it was bad."
Rachel would turn out to be the first injured American to make it to the embassy. As she waited to see a doctor, the aftershocks of the earthquake continued to rattle the ground beneath her.
"The aftershocks were the worst because it felt like more earthquakes were coming," Rachel said. "I was bleeding everywhere and I was finding blood in a lot of places."
Rachel would later learn that she had broken the radius bone in her left arm, had a severe shoulder sprain, a "U-shaped" gash that ran from her hairline to under her eyebrow and debris embedded in her foot.
She waited at the embassy, hoping to see Molly. As she waited, Rachel kept in contact via e-mail with the Hightower family as well as her own. Hours passed and still no word of Molly.
Within 24 hours of the earthquake, a helicopter transported Rachel to a hospital in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba with other injured Americans. Rachel saw the earthquake's devastation when flying above Haiti.
"The helicopter ride was the worst part," Rachel said. "You could see everything out the window."
The day after receiving medical treatment, Rachel boarded a flight back to the United States.
It was in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., that Rachel was reunited with her mom.
"I guess she hadn't cried until she saw me," Rachel said. "She squeezed me really hard, which was painful because of my arm."
During her layover in Salt Lake City en route to her hometown of Boise, Rachel learned the devastating news of Molly's death. Search crews found Molly's body on Jan. 15, three days after the earthquake.
"I knew that 72 hours was a big point in finding someone alive," Rachel said. "I guess I still had hope."
Rachel has stayed in touch with the Hightower family as they grieve the loss of Molly. She feels "honored" that the Hightowers have wanted to talk with her and share their memories of Molly.
"I was the last one to see her," Rachel said. "I might be able to give them some memories of her if nothing else."
Rachel remembers fondly the times she spent with Molly volunteering and exploring Haiti. From the tourist trip to palaces to the eight-hour "roller coaster" bus rides to the mouse they affectionately named "Ti Frito," Rachel "really got to know Molly best" during her time in Haiti.
Rachel hopes to share these memories with the Hightower family and all of Molly's friends.
"I appreciate how everyone has been sending me hopes and prayers," Rachel said. "But I feel like I'm not any different than those who were friends with her here."
Rachel said she feels guilty for all the attention that has been brought on her, while Molly's family and other friends are also grieving.
"I was talking to the media, when we were still waiting to hear about Molly, to bring awareness," Rachel said. "But now I don't do interviews out of respect for her family."
Rachel made an exception for The Beacon because of her and Molly's close connection to the University of Portland and their friends on The Bluff.
Rachel now faces the task of trying to readjust to normal life. A Physical Therapy graduate student at University of Puget Sound, Rachel feels ready to go back to her "supportive community" in Tacoma.
But she knows that Molly's memory will remain with her forever.
"I was given this second chance and she wasn't," Rachel said. "It will be a struggle for the rest of my life to feel like I deserve it and that I can give it back."
Rachel's time in Haiti allowed her to see Molly's passion for life and for helping others.
"I experienced a depth to her character through her compassion and joy in her work that I never would have seen otherwise," Rachel said. "She was incredibly full of life and would want me to continue living my life to the fullest, especially if it involves love and kids and laughter and Diet Dr. Pepper."
Rachel predicts that the coming months will be difficult because "people will move on from this while we're still going through the process."
But Rachel vows to feel blessed everyday because of her experience in Haiti and friendship with Molly.
"You don't have to live through a miracle to know that you have it good," Rachel said. "You're alive and you have this chance. So don't waste it."
