A YOUNG dad from Sheffield who was caught up in Monday's terrifying Chinese earthquake drama told his family: "I thought I was a goner."
Jim Armitage, aged 31, was teaching in an eighth floor classroom in the Sichuan provincial capital of Chengdu when the massive quake - measuring 7.8 on the richter scale - struck on Monday lunchtime leaving up to 12,000 people dead.
He was showered with debris as he escaped from a shaking tower block.
Thousands have been left homeless and the death toll is rising as torrential rain sweeps the worst affected areas causing devastating mud slides.
A group of 19 British tourists who were travelling in the badly-hit Wenchuan county are still missing following the disaster.
Sheffield Wednesday fan Jim told his dad Paul, who lives in Gleadless Townend, "everybody panicked" as they tried to escape the shaking building.
"Jim is a very laid back person but I think he was petrified," said Paul, 55.
"He told me there was masonry and debris falling everywhere and everyone was trying to get out.
"He thought he was a goner. It was horrendous."
Jim escaped unscathed but the walls of his fourth floor apartment were cracked by the quake.
Devout Owl Jim, who gets up in the middle of the night to listen to matches on the radio, first arrived in China five years ago.
He met his wife Belinda, 28, and they married two years ago in a lavish ceremony.
Less than two months ago they had daughter Linda Jean, who is named after Jim's mother and grandmother.
Luckily mother and baby were safe in Beijing when the quake struck.
"Belinda is safe with her family and was not affected," said Paul.
"New mothers in China are not allowed to do anything for the first few months so we know she is being well looked after."
Paul first heard about the quake when he turned on the radio on Monday morning but it wasn't until later that he realised the epicentre was just 57 miles from where English teacher Jim is based.
"I was terrified when I realised. I was trying to call Jim but I couldn't get through," said Paul, who lives with his wife Teresa and their two younger sons.
"I sent an email and to my delight he responded straight away to say he was ok.
"He told me he felt 313 aftershocks but he is heading back to work today like everyone else in China - they are a tough lot."
The majority of the massive death toll has been suffered in outlying villages and torrential rain has turned access routes into fast flowing mud slides, claiming yet more lives.
"I only managed to speak to Jim for the first time last night," said Paul.
"I was so relieved when his emails said he was ok but to hear his voice reassured me more.
"It is awful what has happened but I can't tell you how happy I am that Jim and his family are ok."
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