Peterborough charity Chief Exec describes ordeal of being evacuated from Nepal wildfires

Chief Executive of The Leprosy Mission, Peter Waddup has described what it was like being evacuated to safety to avoid wildfires in Nepal this week.

The Asian country- situated in the Himilayas- is currently in the midst of a full scale national emergency that has seen thousands of forest fires break out across the country for more than a month.

The fires have caused devastation to the country’s ecology, economy and it thought to have reduced the lifespan of the local population due to dangerous air pollution.

One of those affected by the fires has been Peter who out in the country visiting on the the charity’s dedicated hospitals in Anandaban, on the outskirts of the country’s capital Kathmandu.

The CEO of the charity- which is based in Orton Goldhay- even captured a pictures of the dramatic events unfolding in the forest of surrounding Anandaban, on the outskirts of Kathmandu.

Speaking about his experience, Peter said: “We were reassured on Monday night by our wonderful hospital manager that the blaze was still a couple of days away from the hospital.

"So we all went to bed at the hospital guest house not unduly worried.

“Forest fires are fairly commonplace in this area of Nepal and there have been many in recent weeks. The air quality is poor as a result but first thing on Tuesday morning, the hospital manager told us he had been alerted by the authorities in the night.

“The blaze had spread significantly and he had been up most of the night reviewing evacuation plans.

“We asked what we could do to help and were told that they needed to move the patients away from the fire as far as possible. There are a couple of old unused wards at the other side of the hospital site. Our amazing supporters from across the UK who are visiting Anandaban Hospital this week immediately rolled up their sleeves. They set to work disinfecting the old wards.

“At this point we were unsure if the whole site would need to be evacuated. After we had finished preparing the wards, we were told, as visitors, there was little more we could do to help. We were advised to move to Kathmandu which is where we are now.

“The last I heard from the Country Leader of The Leprosy Mission Nepal, who is with the firefighters and members of the armed forces, is that the flames have narrowly missed the hospital site. It was a tense situation as the blaze had already jumped a firebreak they put in place.

“It has been a traumatic time for hospital staff who always put the safety of their patients before their own because Anandaban is a leprosy hospital it is tellingly positioned on the top of the hill away from the city. Somewhere patients were outcast to at a time when there wasn’t an effective cure for leprosy.

“Yet it is a beautiful hilltop location and you think it would somehow be shielded from disaster.

"In the past decade, the team at Anandaban have endured so much. They were instrumental in the earthquake relief efforts in 2015. Their sacrificial care and outreach was recognised by the Nepali government and the hospital was made a nominated disaster relief centre. The team once again responded to a national crisis in 2020 in the wake of the pandemic. A 10-bed Covid isolation unit was opened which cared for hundreds of critically-ill patients.

“They have responded so amazingly to so much adversity. We just pray that firstly all staff and patients remain safe, and the hospital buildings remain unscathed.”