Mother, newborn rescued after Venezuela quake

“I thought that as long as my baby was alive, I had to stay alive too. I kept checking his breathing by touching his nose,” said Dayana Patiño.

An 18-day-old infant and his mother were pulled alive from the wreckage of a collapsed apartment building in Venezuela after a powerful earthquake that has killed more than 1,700 people. The pair has been hailed locally as a miracle and a symbol of hope amid widespread devastation.

The survivors are Dayana Patiño and her son, Juan David. They were rescued on June 25 from the rubble of a collapsed apartment complex in La Guaira state, one of the hardest-hit areas. Patiño suffered fractures in both legs, while her newborn son sustained only minor injuries to his face.

In an interview with the BBC on Monday, Patiño said her baby became her anchor in the chaos. According to the BBC, she was washing dishes on the eighth floor when the earthquake struck. At first, she thought it was a minor tremor and picked up her son, but the building soon began to collapse, trapping them under debris. “It felt like I was being thrown into the air,” she said. “I don’t know how I managed to hold on to him. I was thrown around and slammed into furniture.”

Once trapped, Patiño initially screamed for help, but quickly realized no one could hear her. She chose to conserve her energy, telling herself she would only shout when she heard voices or footsteps nearby. “My left leg was pinned under concrete and I couldn’t move it, and my temple was pressed against a rock, yet I don’t know how I stayed so calm,” she said.

Patiño said she found a turning point after discovering a Bible among the rubble, describing it as the moment her journey to survival began. She later heard her brother calling her name and, believing it was her last chance, shouted back, “I’m here.” She and her baby were then rescued.

Her husband, Gerson, described the moment they were pulled from the debris as a miracle. In video footage of the rescue, he is seen holding Juan David tightly, eyes closed and head tilted back in relief. “We lost almost everything in the earthquake, but we are alive,” he said. “We will rebuild everything we lost.”

Meanwhile, The New York Times reported that as of June 29 the death toll had reached 1,719, with more than 5,000 people injured. With the 72-hour “golden window” for rescues now closed, the chances of finding additional survivors are dwindling. The United Nations is preparing for further casualties and plans to stockpile 10,000 body bags in anticipation of rising fatalities.


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