They are carrying a heavy burden," she said. "They are feeling a great deal of pain and sorrow. Mattoon said residents in the area as well as firemen, police and volunteers, also will get together to share their feelings Wednesday. They'll never be able to leave it, but they can leave a good portion." This program, Hunter said, "eases the pain and gets the healing going quicker. The program only started in recent years, and Hunter said older firefighters who missed out "carry the weight" of the horror much longer. Edward Hunter, who led the "guided discussions," said the program is based on mental health problems faced by Vietnam veterans. Twenty-eight rescuers from the Honolulu Fire Department who were on the scene attended a critical incident stress management session yesterday.Ĭapt. Rescue workers who are trained for disasters know the value of talking it out quickly. "Go ahead and experience the horrors," Young said. But Young said people must unleash the feelings once the crisis is over. Young said it's natural for people to shut down their feelings during a crisis so emotions won't interfere with the actions they must take. I'm not sure why human beings have such a hard time accepting that much of the universe works that way." Mike Young, minister of the First Unitarian Church of Honolulu, said people involved in such traumatic experiences often seek explanations: maybe that God planned it or is punishing them. Signs of post-traumatic-stress disorder that can develop if help is not sought: irritability, anger, sleeping problems, flashbacks, inability to work or socialize and startled responses to noises or events. Whitney Phillips was released yesterday from the hospital.Ĭommon stages of grief: shock, denial, guilt, anger and finally peace after talking through the experiences. Phillips are newlyweds who survived Sunday's deadly landslide. The Sacred Falls sign yesterday in Hauula. Ted Phillips, left, comforted his son and daughter-in-law, RussellĪnd Whitney Phillips, who placed flowers and leis at the base of "The main thing is not to shut down," said Cole Lew, a psychologist with the Department of Veterans Affairs. The sooner they do, the sooner they will heal. Spiritual and medical counselors say even the toughest of them need to start talking through that grief, preferably with professionals. They feel blessed that they are alive but have a hard time putting into words their feelings for those who didn't survive.Īs the deaths and gut-wrenching scenes of Sunday settle in on the survivors, the victims' families, the rescuers, and residents in the area, all involved are experiencing their own form of grief. The Salt Lake City newlyweds later laid a wreath at the entrance to Sacred Falls, and Whitney broke down crying. Meanwhile, Whitney Phillips, who is deaf, and her husband Russell visited local deaf and blind students yesterday to describe the terrifying rock slide they survived. She feels "tremendous guilt" that she may have failed to make things right with the sacred land, may in some way have been responsible for the unleashing of rocks that killed eight. Her Hawaiian family has lived on the land near Sacred Falls for generations. Thousands of miles away, Cathleen Mattoon is grieving too. Graham is angry - at the state for allowing tourists into a place that could turn dangerous at any gods that would allow this to happen and at himself for not being there to save his beloved Jennifer Johnson. Her voice lingers on phone messages she left from Hawaii before hiking Sacred Falls on Sunday. Robert Cole Graham, 29, stays in his dead fiancee's apartment in California, grieving.
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