Local man helping earthquake victims in Nepal

Joann Rigano said when she first saw images of the destruction in Nepal, she didn’t know if her son was dead or alive.

Her son John is a physician’s assistant at Miami Valley Hospital. He was hiking with a group to Mount Everest. They were three days away from the base camp when the earthquake hit.

“It’s a parent’s worst nightmare,” the Beavercreek woman said.

She said she thanked God when she got a message on her cell phone from her 42-year-old son. It just said: “Hello. We are all fine.”

“Just getting the message, I was crying,” she said.

She’s now able to communicate with him through Facebook, though she doesn’t know when he’ll be home.

He and the other medical professionals in his group are helping victims in the area.