A mother in Venezuela has described the ordeal of surviving for 32 hours trapped in the rubble of her collapsed apartment building with her newborn son. Dayana Patino and her 18-day-old baby, Juan David, were in their eighth-floor apartment in La Guaira when an earthquake struck, causing the building to crumble around them.
Patino recounted that she felt like she was flying during the initial collapse, followed by a sensation of sinking. She described being pinned by furniture, with her leg trapped under concrete and her temple pressed against a rock, rendering her immobile. Despite the pain and shock, Patino said she focused on her infant son, stating that his cries were her motivation to stay awake and alert. She checked his breathing frequently by touching his nose to ensure he was still alive.
Using a small crack that allowed moonlight to filter through the debris, Patino conserved her voice until she heard her brother calling for her. She screamed back with all her might, and he promised he would not leave until they were rescued. A rescue team eventually arrived and extracted both Patino and Juan David.
Video footage showed Patino's husband, Gerson, embracing their son with tears of relief, having feared that both his wife and child had perished. "I thought they were dead. And when I saw my son, I felt like I was born again," Gerson told the BBC, calling the rescue a miracle. The family lost all their possessions in the earthquake.
Patino and her son were taken to a hospital in Caracas, where she is recovering from injuries to her legs. Juan David, remarkably, sustained only minor injuries. The earthquake in Venezuela claimed more than 1,400 lives, left over 3,100 people injured, and left approximately 50,000 missing, according to reports from Caracas.