Rutgers Law/MBA Student Recalls Chinese Earthquake Experience on Eve of Graduation

CAMDEN --  One year ago, Brian Donnelly landed in Beijing for a summer class in comparative Chinese law.  On that same day – May 12, 2008 – an earthquake registering 7.9 on the Richter scale devastated the countryside of the Sichuan Province 900 miles away. The events that followed changed his life.

This May, Donnelly’s life will change again, when he receives two degrees from Rutgers in separate graduation ceremonies on Thursday, May 21:  an MBA from the Rutgers School of Business–Camden at 9 a.m. and a Juris Doctor from the Rutgers School of Law–Camden at 1 p.m.

As a student in the JD/MBA program offered at Rutgers–Camden, Donnelly became adept at responding decisively under pressure.  That talent was put to the test during the catastrophic Chinese earthquake in 2008 when, still shaking off the effects of a 14-hour flight from Newark, the Rutgers student watched buildings sway nearly 1,000 miles from the epicenter, and heard reports trickle in of thousands killed, injured, and missing.

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

The 27-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.  “It seemed like the right thing to do.” 

Since then, Donnelly has continued to do the “right thing.”  Media reports of his experience in China connected him with numerous individuals and worthy causes. “I have teamed up local charities to raise awareness for certain types of cancer.  Similarly, I have gotten a great deal of motivation to continue my effort to launch a multi-cause non-profit organization from people who have reached out to offer their assistance after reading articles written about my experiences,” he says.

Recently, Donnelly ran in Philadelphia’s Broad Street Run as a member of Team Olivia to help raise money for the cure of neuroblastoma, a rare form of childhood cancer that attacks the sympathetic nervous system.

Throughout his current volunteer work, the Toms River native recalls a sleep-deprived 48 hours in 2008 when, near the epicenter of the quake that eventually claimed more than 70,000 lives, Donnelly worked to unload and distribute food, water, and medical supplies; administer tetanus shots; and participate 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,” says the Rutgers student.

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, I wasn’t breathing.”

Throughout his long weekend at the disaster site, the future 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 met an American.

“Everyone I encountered was very excited that I was there,” he says. “The Sichuan Province is deep in the country and doesn’t see many tourists. An American volunteer represented that people throughout the world knew about the earthquake in China and wished them well.”

One emotional mother, whose teenage son died in the devastation, gave Donnelly a braided-rope bracelet the boy had made. He retains the bracelet as a tangible reminder of the courage he witnessed from victims of the tragedy.

Donnelly, who is employed at GlaxoSmithKline, received an undergraduate degree in business administration from Elon University.

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.

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