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Wrestler relates Japanese disaster experiences

Posted: Mar 27th 2011 By: mikeiles

When Ryan Collins? airplane touched down at Tokyo International Airport on March 11, he had no idea he had landed in the middle of the largest natural disaster in modern times. Collins, a professional wrestler and 2004 Charles Page High School graduate, had travel to Japan with two other American wrestlers to take part in a series of matches sponsored by Pro-Wrestling NOAH.

?When I landed in Japan, the earthquake had literally just happened,? he said. ?Maybe 30 minutes after the plane landed, we could see and feel another small earthquake. I figured it was the aftershock but still I?m not completely sure what it was. We were safe but stuck in the plane.?

Collins and fellow passengers were kept in the airplane for seven hours on the runway, in addition to the 12-hour flight to Japan. He said he was not immediately aware of the scope of the disaster.

?I realized it was a crisis situation but I didn?t realize how bad or how much media attention it had received,? he said. ?I was also completely unaware of the tsunami.?

When the passengers were allowed to leave the airplane, the scale of the tragedy struck home, Collins said.

?When we left the plane, they (Japanese relief workers) gave us a Red Cross bag that had a bottle of water and a bagel in it.? he said. ?It kind of resembled survival food to me, which again worried me. When we left the airplane they told us to take our airplane pillows and blankets with us, so we wouldn?t be cold. In the airport we saw hundreds of Japanese people sleeping on the floor all over the place, we were literally walking over the top of them to get on our bus.?

The trip to their hotel took five hours ?because the highways were closed down because of the disaster,? he said.

Luckily, Collins was able to get word to his family in Sand Springs that he was safe and that the tour would continue.

At their first hotel, ?we again saw hundreds of Japanese people curled up sleeping on the floor in the lobby of this hotel. And we also caught several angry stares when they saw three American guys walking into a hotel and getting rooms.?

The death toll from the 8.9 earthquake and resulting tsunami may top 20,000. The disaster also caused the partial meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station and the release of radioactive material into the atmosphere.

Measured by death and property destruction, the earthquake and tsunami surpasses Hurricane Katrina, which devastated New Orleans in 2005.

Collins? wrestling tour will be over in a few days and he will fly back to the United States. Collins, who wrestles under the name of Brian Breaker, will be part of a World League Wrestling match in Sand Springs April 8 as a fundraising event for Senior Celebration.

?With everything that has happened, this has been quite an experience,? Collins said. ?I just hope my flight home is easier than the flight here.?