No choice but to start over

Assellia Exelant lost her left leg in the earthquake, but even that wasn't the worst thing.

The 32-year-old Port-au-Prince woman also lost her husband, Pierre Agent, 41, who died amid falling debris. That left Assellia injured, grieving and responsible for the sole care of her two children, ages 7 and 14.

"It's like most of my life is gone," Exelant says through a translator. It's not a complaint; it's an explanation.

For Exelant, who was running a thriving soda-and-beer concession outside the prime minister's office, there is no choice but to start over. A new prosthetic leg will help, but she knows the rest is up to her.

"I have family who can help out," she says. "But in Haiti, everybody has their own problems."