New Zealand Quake: Danao nurse’s fate still unknown
March 3, 2011
From: http://www.stuff.co.nz/national
Ezra Sabayton Medalle
From thousands of miles away, Sophie Olaguir was shocked to see her two friends on the list of names of those missing after the Christchurch earthquake, Ezra Sabayton Medalle and Jessie Redoble, both 25, were Filipino nurses whose first day of English class in the CTV building was the day of the earthquake,
The pair were from Danao City in Cebu, where Miss Olaguir’s sister had been classmates with Ms Medalle since kindergarten through to university.’ The pair had met at college and been together for more than five years. Ms Medalle had tried to apply to become a nurse in Canada, where her mother lived with her Canadian husband, while Mr Redoble had tried for America, where his father lives.
However, New Zealand would take them both.They had left on February 19, after a leaving party on February 15.
“The last time I saw them they were like the happiest couple on earth because finally they could go to New Zealand.”
The trip had been costly, at more than $15,000 each, but they were looking forward to getting qualified and earning money, Miss Olaguir said.
Ms Medalle was her mother’s only child and they had not seen each other in years, she said. She had gone to Canada to make money for her daughter’s education.
“[Ezra is] very sweet, she’s very softly-spoken, she’s a very smart girl.”She and Mr Redoble were “inseparable”, and Mr Redoble was very protective.
“He hugs her and kisses her every single minute of the day. They were very sweet to each other, they were really in love.”
.Both Ms Medalle and Mr Redoble had a high level of English already and were just completing the King’s Education course to get certification, she said.– Stuff