On January 12, 2010, a humanitarian catastrophe of unprecedented proportions hit Haiti in the form of a 7.0 magnitude earthquake. The natural disaster leveled the country’s capital, Port-au-Prince, destroying 188,000 buildings, claiming more than 220,000 lives, devastating the health care infrastructure and weakening the hope of its people. Despite the devastation, several stories emerged cataloguing the remarkable tales of hope and survival of the Haitian people.

Among those stories is the incredible story of Monley, a five-year-old boy who survived eight days beneath the concrete ruins of his collapsed home, which caused the deaths of both his mother and father.

Volunteers from International Medical Corps (IMC), a member of Global Impact’s charity alliance, found Monley, cradled in his uncle’s arms, limp and dirt-caked, just minutes after his rescue. They rushed him to the General Hospital, where other IMC volunteer doctors and nurses pumped fluids into his body and cared for him over the coming days. In the wake of the rescue, Monley, and the International Medical Corps volunteer nurse who cared for him, captured widespread media attention.

IMC volunteers went back and interviewed Monley one year after the disaster struck. Today, Monley is a perfectly healthy five-year-old boy, living with his uncle, brothers, and cousins in a house that sits next to where his old home once stood; this home is a brightly painted, one-room house built by the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS), which is far safer and more secure than the tent in which they lived just six months ago.

Monley remembers the day the earthquake struck but doesn’t talk about it much. He moves through each day as a playful child who is happy to be reunited with his old neighborhood friends and who now attends school full-time. Outside of the home, he’s shy and reserved, but his uncle Gary notes that Monley “talks a mean streak at home and enjoys playing his handheld video game.”

Out of appreciation and compassion for the care Monley received, the family still keeps in close contact with International Medical Corps volunteer nurse, Gabriela McAdoo, who treated Monley in the hospital after the quake. While hard times fell on Monely and his family, they are all thankful for the support received after the disaster.

For those affected by the generous outpouring of support after the earthquake, each dollar donated and each day of care meant the difference between life and death.