PHOTO ESSAY: 2 girls survived Nepal's 2015 earthquake. Each lost a leg but found a friendship

PHOTO ESSAY: 2 girls survived Nepal’s 2015 earthquake. Each lost a leg but found a friendship

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The 2015 Nepal earthquake that killed thousands changed the lives of many in the Himalayan nation. But it was the beginning of a friendship for two girls who each lost their legs in the tremor. Nirmala Pariyar and Khendo Tamang were 7 and 8 years old when they met at the hospital in Kathmandu after they were brought there for treatment. Both were injured during the April 25, 2015, earthquake, which damaged more than 1 million houses and buildings in Nepal. (AP video by Mansingh Upendra)

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Khendo Tamang, left, and Nirmala Pariyar play a game on a cell phone as they share a bed at the trauma center of Bir Hospital in Kathmandu, Nepal, July 6, 2015. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

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A physiotherapist works with Nirmala Pariyar at the trauma center of Bir Hospital in Kathmandu, Nepal, June 9, 2015. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

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Khendo Tamang, right, is dropped off at her home while Nirmala Pariyar, center, waits in the car to be taken to her home after both spent six months at the trauma center of Bir Hospital for treatment in Kathmandu, Nepal, Aug. 19, 2015. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

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Khendo Tamang, left, and Nirmala Pariyar share a light moment at the trauma center of Bir Hospital during their treatment in Kathmandu, Nepal, Sept. 8, 2015. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

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Khendo Tamang, right, and Nirmala Pariyar play in the courtyard of Bir Hospital in Kathmandu, Nepal, Aug. 19, 2015. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

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Khendo Tamang, left, and Nirmala Pariyar try out their prosthetic legs for the first time at a rehabilitation center in Kathmandu, Nepal, Aug. 19, 2015. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

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Khendo Tamang, right, and Nirmala Pariyar pose for a photograph at a restaurant in Kathmandu, Nepal, April 25, 2018. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

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Nirmala Pariyar waits for a doctor at a rehabilitation center to get the height of her prosthetic leg altered, in Kathmandu, Nepal, Dec. 27, 2017. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

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Khendo Tamang, left, and Nirmala Pariyar walk out of a restaurant in Kathmandu, Nepal, May 8, 2017. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

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Khendo Tamang, right, and Nirmala Pariyar pose for a photograph at Nirmala’s home in Kathmandu, Nepal, Oct. 15, 2023. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

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Khendo Tamang, left, and Nirmala Pariyar wait at their school for a bus to arrive, in Lalitpur, Nepal, Thursday, March 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

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Khendo Tamang, back, waits to board a school bus in Lalitpur, Nepal, Thursday, March 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

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Khendo Tamang, right, and Nirmala Pariyar share a desk in their classroom, in Lalitpur, Nepal, Thursday, March 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

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Khendo Tamang, left, writes a message on Nirmala Pariyar’s shirt as they part ways after being together for ten years, in Lalitpur, Nepal, Friday, March 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

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Nirmala Pariyar, left, watches her friend Khendo Tamang, right, leave as they part ways after being together for ten years, in Lalitpur, Nepal, Thursday, March 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

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Kendo Tamang walks without her prosthetic leg inside her relative’s apartment in Kathmandu, Nepal, Tuesday, April 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

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Nirmala Pariyar, left, helps her mother at a workshop for handmade bags where her parents work, in Kathmandu, Nepal, Tuesday, April 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

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Nirmala Pariyar’s younger sister points to Nirmala’s picture on a certificate hanging on the wall of their home in Kathmandu, Nepal, Tuesday, April 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

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Nirmala Pariyar’s younger sister braids her hair at their home in Kathmandu, Nepal, Tuesday, April 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

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Kendo Tamang looks at a framed photo of her late grandmother, who died in the 2015 Nepal earthquake, at a relative’s rented apartment in Kathmandu, Nepal, Tuesday, April 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

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Khendo Tamang, right, and Nirmala Pariyar visit a rehabilitation center get the heights of their prosthetic legs altered, in Kathmandu, Nepal, Friday, April 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

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Khendo Tamang, left, and Nirmala Pariyar, right, visit a rehabilitation center to to get the heights of their prosthetic legs altered, in Kathmandu, Nepal, Friday, April 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

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Khendo Tamang stands on a platform as she gets the height of her prosthetic leg altered at a rehabilitation center in Kathmandu, Nepal, Friday, April 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

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Khendo Tamang, left, and Nirmala Pariyar, right, register at a rehabilitation center to get the heights of their prosthetic legs altered, in Kathmandu, Nepal, Friday, April 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

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Khendo Tamang, right, and Nirmala Pariyar visit a rehabilitation center to get the heights of their prosthetic legs altered, in Kathmandu, Nepal, Friday, April 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

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In this combination of images taken between 2015 and 2025, Khendo Tamang, the taller girl, and Nirmala Pariyar are photographed at different locations in Nepal. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

By BINAJ GURUBACHARYA and NIRANJAN SHRESTHA

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — The devastating 2015 Nepal earthquake that killed thousands changed the lives of many in the Himalayan nation. But it was the beginning of a friendship for two girls who each lost a leg in the tremor.

Nirmala Pariyar and Khendo Tamang were 7 and 8 years old when they met at the hospital in Kathmandu after they were brought there for treatment. Both were injured during the April 25, 2015, earthquake, which damaged more than 1 million houses and buildings in Nepal.

They shared the same hospital bed and supported each other. They went on to attend the same boarding school.

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“Our friendship is still strong and she has been my biggest support even during the times when I am away from family,” Pariyar told The Associated Press.

“When I sometime miss my family and cry she is always there for me,” she added. “She has been not just a friend but like my own sister to me.”

Pariyar was pinned under a fallen metal gate and concrete wall after the quake. She was pulled out when people passing by saw her hair, and was transported to the hospital.

“I was unconscious but I was told that one of my legs was barely attached to my body. They put the leg in a cardboard box and took me to hospital,” she said.

She regained consciousness at the hospital a week after the earthquake. A few days later she met Tamang, who was brought in from her village east of the capital, Kathmandu.

It has taken months of surgery and rehabilitation to get them walking and performing everyday tasks. Both girls have been fitted with prosthetic legs, and often have to visit the disability rehabilitation center to get readjustments.

Both girls, now in their teenage years, have just finished the national high school exams and are planning their future.

Pariyar is considering majoring in science in junior college because that promises better prospects — but in her heart she wants to be a singer.

Ten years after the devastating earthquake, most of the buildings and houses that were damaged have been rebuilt. Schools and public buildings have been built to better safety standards.

Earthquakes are common in Nepal, which is covered mostly by mountain terrain and home to most of the highest peaks in the world.