Brownsburg man survives Haiti quake

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - A Hendricks County man and his Haitian mother-in-law are grateful to be alive after experiencing the disastrous Haiti earthquake first-hand.

Ronald Charles, 33, of Brownsburg, was all smiles talking on his cell phone as he and his mother-in-law, Etude Batichon, left Concourse B at Indianapolis Airport Wednesday and came directly to talk to 24-Hour News 8.

Charles said he was in Haiti when the earthquake struck.

"I was right into it. I was in the middle of all it. But thank God we're here," he said.

Imagine if you were waiting on your flight at Indianapolis Airport and a 7.0 earthquake hit. That's what Charles said happened to him and Batichon at the airport in Haiti. They couldn't believe it.

"All of the sudden, there was this big earthquake. The building was like tearing apart, you know? The ceiling was like collapsing and people were just running away. It was like total chaos...at the airport. Right at the airport," Charles said.

Charles was among many people who just ran for cover, but there was nowhere to go and many were severely hurt. He showed pictures of his wife and three kids in Brownsburg. All he could think about was them and keeping his mother-in-law safe.

"I saw death. You know, I saw death. I was just thinking about my wife and my family, you know, asking God to be with them. But then it stopped, you know, after maybe 40 seconds, I believe. But to me, those 40 seconds were like eternity. I mean, it was like forever," said Charles.

Charles is from Haiti, but has been an American citizen for quite some time. His mother-in-law is in Indianapolis visiting the family. They now anticipate she'll be in Indy for quite some time.

They're also trying to get in touch with several family members to find out how they're doing but haven't been able to contact them yet.