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"It's just amazing. It was
just such an out-of-body
experience. It hasn't even
really hit me that I'm back
' in civilization. I could have
been killed and I guess I got
Matt Shiffman of
Royal Oak
lucky. It's a miracle nothing
happened to me or anyone I knew down
there. It definitely opened my eyes to how
lucky I was and I'm thankful."

program of the U.S. State Department.
"The whole city was just in a panic;
there was no communication, no elec-
tricity': Shiffman said. "For some reason,
the hotel had generator power and I was
able to get onto [the social networking
Web site] Faceboole
Initially, that was the only way he
was able to reach his parents, Lisa and
Gary Shiffman of West Bloomfield, and
David's family members and friends to
let everyone know they were safe.

WATCH

Long Journey Home
With damage and destruction all
around him, Shiffman began the daunt-
ing task of trying to get out of the
earthquake zone. Santiago's airport was
hit pretty hard. Flights out of Chile were
extremely limited. It took him a full
week to come up with a plan. Shiffman
ended up driving about 12 hours to
Argentina where he caught a flight from
Buenos Aires to the United States. He
finally arrived back in Metro Detroit
March 7.
"It's just amazing. It was just such an
out-of-body experience. It hasn't even
really hit me that I'm back in civiliza-
tion': Shiffman said. "I could have been
killed and I guess I got lucky. Its a
miracle nothing happened to me or to
anyone I knew down there. It definitely
opened my eyes to how lucky I was and
I'm thankful:'
While Matt was busy devising plans
to leave Santiago, Cindy Schlussel, 40, of
White Lake was just arriving there. She
and a group of 16 Jewish singles from
various cities were stranded on Easter
Island in the in the southeast Pacific
Ocean following the earthquake. The
remote destination is about 2,300 miles

Monday, March 15th

at 8pm on Channel 56

Detroit Public Television

and award-winning filmmakers
Sue Marx and Allyson Rockwell take you on a
remarkable stroll down memory lane. With a blend of
interviews and archival photographs, this documentary
showcases the history of Detroit's Jewish community.

ERCARE
SOLUTIONS
of

Michigan

PLAN WELL • AGE WELL • LIVE WELL

WE ALL WANT TO
AGE WITH DIGNITY

Funding provided by Jim & Sandy Danto
in support of Detroit Public TV and ElderCare Solutions of Michigan,
a division of Jewish Family Service.

1576170

14 March 11 • 2010

off the west coast of Chile. Despite the
damage to Santiago's airport, they were
able to fly in.
"The airport was completely dark
when we landed': Schlussel said. "It had
no power; they had a generator with
some lights outside. We saw the damage
right away. At one point, we drove over a
bridge that had a one-foot gap between
the bridge and the road itself. They let
one car go at a time. We were so ner-
vous going over it."
The group made it to a Santiago
hotel, but within a short time got word
from their Pittsburgh-based travel
group that there was a midnight flight
back to the United States. Seats would
be given out on a first-come, first-
served basis.
"Imagine going to the Super Bowl
and nobody has a ticket and there's
only one entrance to get in. That's what
it was like Schlussel explained. "People
were just desperate to get on a flight. We
had to push and shove our way through
but we got on the flight and left around
2 a.m."
Schlussel never felt the earthquake
or any of the aftershocks, but at one
point her group was evacuated due to
tsunami warnings. She took the trip to
Antarctica and the Polynesian island
to celebrate her 40th birthday. Arriving
home safely after so many unexpected
twists and turns was an emotional
experience.
"It's very surreal; it doesn't even
feel like it really happened:' Schlussel
said. "We were as safe as anybody
could possibly be in that situation. We
couldn't have been any more fortu-
nate. I have a guardian angel, I firmly
believe that" 0