Britney Gengel's Parents Visit Haiti Orphanage 5 Years After Deadly Quake
HOLDEN (CBS) -- Five years after a devastating earthquake that killed hundreds of thousands of people in Haiti, a Holden family has returned to the country where their daughter was killed to celebrate her legacy.
It's been an emotional week for the Gengel family, who just returned from Haiti. They planned the trip to coincide with the anniversary of their daughter Britney's death.
Related: Family Of Britney Gengel Builds Orphanage In Haiti
The 19-year-old was among a group of college students and faculty members working with a humanitarian group. Britney, along with three other students and two teachers, died on Jan. 12, 2010 when their hotel collapsed in a quake that killed more than 230,000 people.
Britney's parents visited the Hotel Montana with other families who lost loved ones in the earthquake, describing the trip as a "pilgrimage."
"That as you can imagine was really hard because that's where our daughters and dads took their last breath," Len Gengel told WBZ NewsRadio 1030.
Just hours before the deadly quake, Britney wrote in a text message to her mother, "I want to move here and start an orphanage."
Britney's parents have been back to Haiti 67 times since their daughter's death to fulfill her last wish. Two years ago, they opened the Be Like Brit orphanage that employs 78 Haitian workers and cares for 66 children.
"When you lose a child it's the most unnatural act of mankind," Len Gengel said. "But at the same time, out of the darkness and out of our grief and pain we have these beautiful 66 shining lights."
For more information on the Be Like Brit foundation, click here.
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Karen Twomey reports:
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