A viral video shows an 18-day-old baby pulled alive from the rubble in Venezuela—32 hours after two devastating earthquakes struck the country. His mother, Dayana Patiño, was rescued alongside him from the ruins of their home in La Guaira, a coastal town near Caracas. Speaking to the BBC from a hospital in the capital, she described the harrowing hours trapped beneath collapsed concrete, and how her newborn son gave her the will to survive.
‘He Was My Reason to Stay Awake’
“My son was my reason to stay awake and alert,” Patiño said. “As long as he was alive, I would be too. Every so often, I touched his nose to make sure he was still breathing.”
The footage of their rescue quickly spread worldwide, turning baby Juan David into a symbol of hope for Venezuela—a nation reeling from what its transitional government has called the worst natural disaster in its history. At least 1,450 people have died, and tens of thousands remain missing.
‘I Thought It Was Just a Small Tremor’
Patiño recalled the moment her life changed in seconds. She was washing dishes on the eighth floor of an apartment building in La Guaira when the quakes hit. Her instinct was to grab her newborn, assuming it was just a minor tremor.
“I felt like I was flying. Then it was as if I was sinking into water and earth—and then I fell into darkness, where I remained trapped. I don’t know how I kept hold of the baby. I was thrown and slammed into furniture,” she recounted.
At first, she screamed desperately for help—but soon realized no one could hear her. “I told myself I couldn’t waste my energy. I’d only call out when I heard voices or footsteps nearby.”
She was pinned under debris: her left leg crushed beneath concrete, her head pressed against a rock. In total darkness, she found an unexpected source of strength—a Bible beneath her body. “That’s where my fight for survival began,” she said.
A Brother’s Promise
Hope returned when she heard her brother calling her name. “I thought that was my only chance. I shouted as loudly as I could: ‘I’m here!’ And he answered: ‘I’ve found you—and I promise I won’t leave until I get you out.’”
He kept that promise. A painstaking, careful rescue operation followed—eventually freeing both mother and child.
Patiño sustained injuries to both legs, but baby Juan David suffered only minor wounds. Her husband, Gerson, had just returned home when the quakes struck. After escaping by jumping over a fence, he feared his wife and son had perished.