Rutgers-Camden Student Recounts Volunteer Efforts Amidst Devastation of Chinese Earthquake

For Immediate Release

CAMDEN --  On Monday, May 12, Brian Donnelly landed in Beijing for a summer class in comparative Chinese law.  That same day, an earthquake registering 7.9 on the Richter scale devastated the countryside 900 miles away.

Still shaking off the effects of a 14-hour flight from Newark, the Rutgers School of Law—Camden student watched buildings sway even that far from the epicenter, and soon began hearing reports trickle in of thousands killed, injured, and missing.

Nine days later Donnelly was on another plane, this one bound for Chengdu, the capital of the Sichuan Province in southwestern China.

The 26-year-old was armed only with a hand-written letter that said, in Chinese, “I’m here to help with the disaster relief effort and my flight leaves Monday afternoon.” That and the determination to use whatever skills he had to help out during his abbreviated stay.

“I don’t have a real eloquent answer for (why I went.) As soon as it happened, I just wanted to help,” says Donnelly, who is entering his third year of law school while concurrently pursuing an MBA from the Rutgers School of Business–Camden as part of a dual JD-MBA program at the campus.

“It seemed like the right thing to do.” 

Near the epicenter of the quake that eventually claimed 69,000 lives, the Toms River native would spend a sleep-deprived 48 hours unloading and distributing food, water, and medical supplies; administering tetanus shots; and participating in the heartbreaking work of uncovering bodies.

Working with a mask on his face that did little to lessen the stench of decay, Donnelly sifted through bricks, rebar and cement at an elementary school hard hit by the earthquake.

He was the lone American working with a team of volunteers to find 12 students still missing out of a total of 260 at the rural school. Most did not survive.

“The first thing I saw when I moved a huge chunk of brick was a little shoe and a pink backpack,” the Rutgers—Camden graduate student says.

He gestured other volunteers over. Together, they gently uncovered the remains of a little girl, maybe in fifth- or sixth-grade, one of several children who perished apparently while trying to seek shelter in the school’s basement.

“It was gut-wrenching,” Donnelly says of the grim discovery. “My stomach was in knots. It was surreal: Time was frozen, you’re not breathing.”

Throughout his long weekend at the disaster site, the future entertainment attorney was lauded by the people he encountered – despite the language barrier. With the help of George, his impromptu interpreter, Donnelly fielded hugs and hymns of praise from Chinese citizens who had never before encountered an American.

“Everyone I encountered was very excited that I was there,” he says. “An American volunteer represented that people around the globe knew there was an earthquake in China, and that the world wished them well.”

One emotional mother, whose high school-age son died in the devastation, gave Donnelly a braided-rope bracelet the boy had made. He wears it still.

A 2000 graduate of Toms River High School North, Donnelly received a degree in business administration from Elon University. Thanks to a JD/MBA  joint-degree program at Rutgers—Camden, he is on track to receive both his law degree and his MBA next May.

His experiences half a world away reinforced Donnelly’s longtime dream of launching a charitable organization to channel funds to several areas, including – not unexpectedly – disaster relief.

Donnelly wants to call the effort “Ocean’s Arms.” Its slogan?  The only arms strong enough to hold the world together.

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