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

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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.

“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.