TOLEDO, Ohio — It's been a little over one week since the powerful earthquake that struck turkey and Syria, killing 41,000 people.
Chris Darrington is a former University of Toledo basketball player. He moved to Syria to pursue his basketball career. Little did he know he was going to experience the biggest shock of his life when the 7-point-8 magnitude quake struck.
"I was just looking at everything shake and the lights were like clicking together, the mirror was shaking. The water bottles was shaking -- really what threw me off was the ground, like I can't reenact the ground shaking. It's literally just shaking and I'm like what do I do? What do I do? That was really my thought what do I do? I don't know what to do," said Darrington.
Darrington thinks of the thousands who didn't make it out alive and he's grateful to be back home.
"Especially the city I was in and it's just breathtaking to really know how serious this was and just for me to be back home safely -- like I said, I'm truly blessed and god is really good," added Darrington.
The Islamic Society of Northwest Ohio will host a fundraiser for the earthquake victims this weekend.
"So it's a dynamics situation, the needs are changing and so the best thing we should have a fundraiser -- we should give them money to financially support because they can use it as the need arises," said Dr. S. Maseeh Rehman, President of United Muslim Association in Toledo.
Tickets to this event include dinner. You can buy tickets at the door of the Islamic Society of Northwest Ohio located at South McCord Road. The benefit begins at 6PM.
For more information on the fundraiser or to find out ways to donate, click here.