Haunting story behind picture of girl who spent THREE days trapped under volcano rubble as rescuers couldn’t save her
THIS is the haunting story of a young girl who was trapped under volcano rubble before dying in front of the eyes of journalists.
Omayra Sánchez Garzón was just 13 when got half-buried in a landslide caused by the 1985 eruption of the Nevado del Ruiz volcano in Armero, Tolima in Colombia.
Omayra was horrifically caught up in the aftermath of the cruel eruption which claimed the lives of some 25,000 people while completely obliterating 14 communities.
After the volcano erupted, a volatile mixture of volcanic lava and ice – called lahar – gushed into the river valleys before entering the villages.
On the night of the disaster, Omayra’s family were wide awake inside their concrete home, fearing the possibility of dangerous volcanic ash entering the place.
Their worst fear came true when a stream of lahar rushed inside their house, destroying it completely and trapping the little girl under heavy rubble.
A buried Omayra was later discovered only when her hand was able to squeeze through a crack – and was spotted by a rescue worker.
Attempts to pull her out were futile as the young girl’s legs were caught under a door made of bricks, with her dead aunt’s arms clutched tightly around her legs and feet.
People around could not find a way to free her from the concrete rubble without completely shattering her legs, but they had no resources to give her life-saving care if they amputated them.
Each time a rescue worker would try to pull her out, more slush pooled around her, seeming as if she would drown if they let her go.
After multiple failed attempts, it was decided that the kindest thing to do would be to rest her comfortably.
A tire was then placed around her body that kept her afloat.
Her plight was well-documented by journalists photographers, TV crews, and Red Cross workers who were present at the scene, hoping for an eleventh-hour rescue.
She would eat sweet food, drink soda cans, and speak cheerfully with the people around her.
The brave girl remained mostly calm throughout her ordeal, despite brief periods of panic attacks in between.
By the third night, she began hallucinating and talked about going to school for her math test.
Her eyes had now become so bloodshot that they appeared black, while her hands had whitened and her face had swelled.
After a point, she asked the journalists and other rescue workers to leave her so they could rest.
A few hours later, the workers returned with a pump and tried to save her, but her legs were bent under the concrete as if she was kneeling.
It was impossible to save her.
Before closing her eyes for one last time, the brave teen uttered her final words tragic words for the whole world to hear.
Clinging onto a piece of debris above her head, she calmly looked towards the camera and said: “Mommy, I love you so much, Daddy I love you, brother I love you.”
She died on November 16, 1985, likely because of gangrene or hypothermia.
Omayra’s brother and mum survived the horror lahar, while her father and aunt died on the spot.
Expressing her heavy feelings about Omayra’s death, her mum, who was out of town for business during the tragedy, said: “It is horrible, but we have to think about the living.
“I will live for my son, who only lost a finger.”