KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Nepal’s catastrophic earthquake in 2015, which killed thousands, has changed the lives of many people in the Himalayan countries. However, it was the beginning of a friendship between the two girls who lost their legs to trembling.
Nirmala Pariyar and Khendo Tamang were 7 and 8 when they met at a hospital in Kathmandu after being brought there for treatment. Both were injured on April 25, 2015, and damaged more than one million homes and buildings in Nepal.
They shared the same hospital beds and supported each other. They continued to attend the same boarding school.
Khendo Tamang, right, Nirmala Pariyar will take a photo at his Nirmala home in Kathmandu, Nepal on October 15th, 2023.
Kendo Taman and Nirmala Pariyar on the left will be trying their first prosthetic legs at a rehabilitation centre in Kathmandu, Nepal on August 19, 2015.
Register at the left Khendo Tamang and Nirmala Pariyar, right, at Rehabilitation Centre and change the height of the prosthetic leg in Kathmandu, Nepal on Friday, April 11, 2025.
Khendo Tamang, right, Nirmala Pariyar will perform in the courtyard of BIR Hospital, Kathmandu, Nepal, August 19, 2015 (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)
“Our friendship is still strong and even in my time when I was separated from my family, she was my biggest support,” Parillard told The Associated Press.
“When I one day I miss my family, she’s always there for me,” she added. “She’s not just a friend, she’s like my sister to me.”
The Parillard was fixed under the metal gate and concrete wall that fell after the earthquake. She was pulled out when people saw her hair and took her to the hospital.
“I was unconscious, but they told me that one of my legs was barely attached to my body. They put my legs in a cardboard box and took me to the hospital,” she said.
She regained consciousness in the hospital a week after the earthquake. A few days later she met Taman, who had been brought in from the village east of the capital Kathmandu.
It took several months of surgery and rehabilitation to walk and carry out the daily tasks. Both girls are equipped with prosthetic legs and often have to visit a disability rehabilitation centre to get readjustment.
Nirmala Pariyar, left, looking at her friend Khendo Tamang, right, saying goodbye after being together for 10 years in Lalitpur, Nepal, on Thursday, March 27, 2025.
Nirmala Pariyar’s sister points to Nirmala’s photo on Tuesday, April 1, 2025 about the certificate hanging from the wall of her home in Kathmandu, Nepal.
Kendo Taman and Nirmala Pariyar on the left are waiting at school for the bus to arrive at Lalitpur, Nepal on Thursday, March 27th, 2025.
The physical therapist is working with Nirmala Pariyar at the Trauma Centre at BIR Hospital, Kathmandu, Nepal on June 9, 2015 (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)
Both girls are now teenagers, have just finished their national high school exams and are planning their future.
Parillard is considering majoring in science at junior college. Because it promises a better outlook. But in her mind she wants to be a singer.
Ten years after the devastating earthquake, most of the damaged buildings and homes were rebuilt. Schools and public buildings are being built for better safety standards.
Earthquakes are common in Nepal, mainly covered by mountain topography and home to the world’s highest peaks.
In the combination of images taken between 2015 and 2025, Khendo Tamang, Taller Girl and Nirmala Pariyar have been photographed in various locations in Nepal. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)
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