Two of the seven children from a Ft. Meade, Md. family are believed to have died in the earthquake that shook Haiti last week.
Deborah Larose, 11, and Philip Larose, 9, had traveled with their father and other siblings to Haiti for a funeral.
Moise Larose was in a car when he felt the tremors.
His thoughts quickly rushed to his 11-year-old and 9-year-old. They were visiting their mother who lived in Haiti.
Larose found their mother’s home, only to see the concrete structure flattened.
“I stared yelling, ‘Deborah! Philip!’” said Larose. “I called their mother’s name, Rosemary, (but) nobody answered me.”
Their bodies have not been found.
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“I don’t know how I’m going to forget about them,” Larose said. “I try hard to see if I can cope. Every second they come into my mind.”
Moise has since returned to Ft. Meade with his five surviving children. His three-year-old son Terry cries uncontrollably when he leaves his side.
“They still got some post-traumatic stress because they still feel like the house shaking with them,” Larose said.
While he tries to be strong for surviving children, Larose’s thoughts are still with those he lost in Haiti. He’s hired workers in Haiti to recover his children’s bodies.
His mission is to give Deborah and Philip a proper burial.
“That’s all I ask: ‘please give me the bodies’”, pleads Larose.
The five surviving Larose children will all be given grief counseling to help them cope with the tragedy.
