Vacationing Chicago Couple Will Stay in Ecuador To Help With Earthquake Relief Efforts
(CBS) -- A Chicago couple was vacationing in Ecuador when the earthquake hit Saturday evening in one of the hardest hit towns and they have stayed to help with relief efforts.
On the patio of their hotel, Javier Macias and his wife were watching the sunset over the ocean in the beach town of Canoa. Then the earth shook and his wife grabbed a palm tree.
"And then she screamed my name and I went to embrace her from behind and I grabbed the palm tree and we were holding onto the tree throughout the quake," he says. "But my friends were thrown probably 10 to 15 feet from us."
Macias says they were bruised but otherwise ok. They drove up into the hills because they were afraid of a tsunami. The next morning, they drove back into the Canoa.
"We found that the city was almost completely destroyed," he said. "We noticed dead bodies in bags, black bags."
Since then, Macias and his wife have bought food, antibiotics and supplies for the people of Ecuador and he says so much is needed.
For more information on donations to the relief effort, click here.