DOCTOR FLEW INTO DISASTER SRI LANKA VACATION TURNED INTO A MISSION.

Byline: Karen Maeshiro Staff Writer

Lancaster physician Dr. Karunyan Arul went back to his native Sri Lanka for a medical school reunion but found himself arriving to devastation.

Arriving in his homeland a day after the Dec. 26 tsunami, which hit while he was crossing the Pacific Ocean by plane, Arul took on the grim task of treating flood survivors who found their way to makeshift camps set up at churches, temples and schools.

``I saw a variety of injuries, fractures and lacerations,'' said Arul, a 63-year-old pediatrician and endocrinologist who is medical director of Sierra Medical Group. ``Some of them had hands wrapped up in barbed wire. Some of them had been smashed into buildings or trees.

``Many of them had shock and were unable to sleep. They had anxiety and fear so you talk to them and give them medicine.''

The suddenness and completeness of the destruction was incomprehensible, said Arul, who came to the United States 31 years ago and has been in the Antelope Valley for 24 years.

``People are on a beach,'' he said. ``It was a nice sunny day. Then in 15 minutes, their whole life changes. A wave comes and smashes into homes and schools and everything on shore.''

Arul was originally scheduled to return to Lancaster on Jan. 9 but extended his stay by a week and returned Sunday.

The pediatrician said he initially provided medical aid, then tried to help with organizing the relief effort, getting medical supplies, water purifiers and tents to flood victims.

He said he saw boats on rooftops and heard tales of people being carried away by water and surviving by hanging on to trees, a woman whose baby was sucked from her arms by the raging waters, and one family where mother and father tried to save each one of their three children but could not.

``That was perhaps the most saddest and difficult part to comprehend,'' Arul said. ``What is left behind is devastation, psychological and economical.''

Arul visited Trincomalee, a city on the east coast with a natural harbor. Parts of it were protected by land but others were exposed to the tsunami.

``Everything was smashed,'' Arul said. ``Hotels were smashed into smithereens. Wooden roofs were broken like little matches. All imposing buildings that I had seen previously were laid bare.''

None of Arul's relatives in Sri Lanka was killed or injured. But he knew four people who lost their lives: the wife and daughter of a Northridge doctor and a professor and his wife from Ohio.

``There were thousands I did not know,'' Arul said. ``The tragic part was within minutes families lost members.''

There are between 25 and 30 physicians in the Antelope Valley who are from Sri Lanka.

Arul said the acute medical phase of the relief effort is over, and the task now is to rebuild the country economically. Especially devastated were fishermen whose many thousands of boats were destroyed.

Arul said there are organizations that can help with donating boats or fishing nets. They include the Tamil Refugee Relief Organization at [phone], and Operation USA at [phone].

``What is needed is help to rebuild people's lives, get people back in their lives to earn money,'' Arul said. ``The nature of the industry is such that, if you give a family a boat, they can make a living.''

Karen Maeshiro, [phone]

karen.maeshiro(at)dailynews.com