A candlelight vigil for those missing amid the Nepal earthquake aftermath ended with an extraordinary phone call when a Coronado woman learned her son is still alive.
The emotional vigil was held at the center of UC San Diego’s campus Tuesday night.
Mother Lisa Rosenbusch attended the ceremony organized by the university’s Nepalese Student Association in hopes of finding someone with contacts to a Sherpa who could be hired to trek up the mountain on the specific mission of finding her son, 21-year-old Spencer Dickinson.
Dickinson was on a trek climbing Mount Everest when the deadly, devastating quake struck the region. For Rosenbusch, not knowing where her son has been is incredibly difficult and painful.
“My vision is he is fine and helping others. It’s the only place I can stand because if I go to the other [place] I can’t function,” Rosenbusch told NBC 7.
Dickinson, who lives in Los Angeles, left for Asia alone last October on a year-long adventure. His last communication with family was April 19 when he talked about his upcoming trip to Mount Everest base camp.
Rosenbusch brought a picture of her son to UC San Diego’s vigil and fought back tears as she listened to speakers talk of the tragic earthquake.
Local
The worried mother said she had been waiting for any sign of her son – any phone call that would assure her he is fine and well.
“I’m manning my phone all day and night, because night is their day,” said Rosenbusch.
Shortly after the vigil ended, Rosenbusch got the sign she had been hoping for.
She received a phone call from her son’s father who said Spencer had called to say he is okay.
“It’s the best phone call I’ve ever received; amazing,” she said.
Rosenbusch said her son couldn’t talk long, because he was in the process of being taken off the mountain by helicopter with a group of injured climbers, but he offered reassurance that he is fine.
