Ramlan, 18, resting in a makeshift tent outside a hospital in Padang. (Photo: Dylan Martinez, Reuters)

Sumatra Quake Survivor Who Cut Off Own Foot Growing Weary of Media

Ramlan, an 18-year-old who sawed off his own foot to survive the massive earthquake that devastated West Sumatra, is tired of the relentless media exposure.

“Sorry, he doesn’t want to be interviewed about the quake,” said Nur, a member of the Yos Sudarso Hospital staff, on Sunday. “He is tired of repeatedly telling the same story.

“He might not mind the picture-taking though.”

Nur said that Ramlan had been interviewed in the hospital’s makeshift emergency tent almost every day since the disaster by reporters and relief workers asking about his traumatic experience.

Ramlan, who was working at a construction site in Padang when the quake struck, hacked off his right foot using basic tools after being pinned by a concrete girder.

Fearing aftershocks, he decided his only way to escape was by cutting off the trapped appendage with a hoe and saw.

Ramlan’s inspirational story has since traveled around the world, featuring in newspapers as far away as in London and New York.

When visited on Sunday, Ramlan was still recovering in a bed at the hospital’s emergency tent. Tended to by a relative, he looked relaxed while reading a newspaper.

However, he just smiled and did not say a word. 

Antara

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