Dayana Patino was doing the washing up in her eighth-floor apartment in La Guaira when the twin earthquakes hit. She rushed to cradle her 18-day-old son, Juan David, thinking it would be only a light tremor. Then the building collapsed.
“I felt like I was flying. After that, I felt like I was sinking in water and dirt, and then I fell into the pit where I remained,” she told the BBC from a clinic in Caracas on Sunday. “I don’t know how I didn’t let go of my baby because I was flying. I got crushed against furniture.”
“Mother Dayana Patino rescued with 18-day-old son tells BBC he kept her alive after Venezuela quakes kill at least 1,450.”
Her left leg was trapped under concrete, her temple pressed against a rock. In the darkness, a pinprick of light gave her hope, and she found a bible beneath her. “There began my journey of survival,” she said. Every now and then she touched Juan David’s nose “for proof that he was still breathing”.
“As long as he was alive, I was going to be alive,” she said. Her brother eventually heard her screams and promised not to leave until he got her out. A delicate rescue operation followed, and footage of their survival has been shared around the world.
The earthquakes – magnitudes 7.2 and 7.5 – struck on Wednesday, devastating northern Venezuela. The confirmed death toll has reached at least 1,450, with at least 68,900 people reported missing, according to officials. Venezuela’s interim president described the disaster as the “most brutal natural catastrophe” in the country’s history.
Just days later, a strong aftershock was felt shortly after 7am on Sunday in Caracas and La Guaira, heightening fears for the safety of hundreds of weakened buildings.
International rescue teams have arrived, including a 68-strong UK International Search and Rescue team with six specialist search dogs, which left RAF Brize Norton on Friday. The UK has also dispatched members of its Emergency Medical Team and made £2 million in humanitarian funding available. The British embassy in Caracas, damaged in the quakes, has been closed, but alternative arrangements are in place. No British casualties have been reported.
Search efforts continue, but hopes of finding more survivors are diminishing. For Dayana Patino, her son remains a symbol of hope. “When I saw my son I felt like I was born again, I couldn’t believe it,” her husband Gerson said.