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Emma Howard was trapped in the collapsed PGC building three days before her wedding last year. - Source: Fairfax -
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A young Christchurch couple's wedding a year ago was an event more memorable than most.
Chris Greenslade and Emma Howard were surrounded by media as they tied the knot on February 25 at the Christ the King Catholic Church in Burnside.
Just three days earlier, Emma's walk down the aisle was in doubt as she lay trapped in the ruins of the Pyne Gould Corporation (PGC) building.
It took more than six hours to free her while Chris, who had raced from his central city office, waited anxiously.
A year on from the day that claimed 18 lives in the PGC building, the couple are trying to focus on the future.
"For us, we were lucky. We get to go on and live our lives," Chris says.
"We don't think about the negative `what ifs?', or try not to, because that's not going to get us anywhere. We've just got to make the most of our lives."
Chris said at the time he had been expecting to see Emma waiting on the footpath when he reached PGC. His optimism turned to dread when he saw the wreckage where the building had stood.
"I walked around the corner to a collapsed building and it was just horrifying.
"My initial thoughts were, `I don't think anybody could have survived that'."
There was fleeting contact from Emma that indicated she was alive.
"I got a text about three hours in from one of her workmates, from Emma saying, `I'm OK, I'm alive, I love you very much'."
Emma was later pulled from the rubble by a crane, to the applause of rescue workers and onlookers. She was largely uninjured.
Chris says he tries not dwell on the past, but admits memories of February 22 do at times surface.
"I can remember everything pretty clearly but I've blocked out most of the feelings that relate to it because I've was pretty much in turmoil that day. At some point they may come back, I don't know. It's just my way of dealing with the day."
Emma still struggles with "survivor guilt".
She thinks about the quake daily and has struggled with anxiety, especially a fear of concrete buildings.
Nightmares about the death of friends not in PGC or even in the central city that day have caused sleepless nights. "Sometimes I lie awake and night and just cry because I'm so thankful that I get to be lying next to Chris. It's been really difficult.
"I'm so lucky and it's really hard to believe that everything has gone right for us. Straight after, I thought it was too good to be true and something was going to happen."
Emma says she been called a drama queen because she was not physically injured and did not lose a loved one.
The criticism hurt, but she has found comfort in speaking about her experience.
"I came out of it fine, but people don't understand the emotional side that comes with a situation like that. I wish that everyone could put the shoe on the other foot."
In the past year, her company, Leech & Partners, has moved to a low-rise building in Riccarton and Chris passed his chartered accountant exams.
The couple are selling their home to move to the country and are planning a two-month holiday in Europe.
Emma credits Chris with being her "rock".
"I've been a complete wreck and he's been so strong," she says. "Everything that could worry him, he just blocks out completely. He's been there 100 per cent for me with all my problems."
The couple plan to spend their anniversary indulging two of their loves - cycling and Thai food - and will stay in the same bed and breakfast where they spent their wedding night.
Chris says the wedding day, over-run with media from around the world, "doesn't seem real".
Their honeymoon in Rarotonga also took a surreal turn when they were flown to New York to appear live on major United States television network CBS - for just over three minutes. Emma remembers the nuptials, but says the days leading up are a blur.
The intense media coverage came as a shock.
"I hadn't been nervous at all during the day until I arrived and saw all the cameras there," she says. "People from all over the world sent us mail, congratulating us on our wedding. Complete strangers were sending us dollar bills to go towards a new cake because they heard we lost our cake."
The couple were happy to share their story in the hope of delivering a moment of joy amid the tragedy. Emma's hope is to get back to normal. "I'm never going to forget about [being trapped] but I just want my anxiety levels to go down. I want a boring year".
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