Armero Tragedy

The story I am about to share is deeply disturbing. The photos are graphic and devastating. so please be aware of this if you decide to proceed.

Many years ago I saw a photo that horrified me. For a moment I thought that it was a scene from a horror movie, but the truth was worse than any horror I could ever imagine.

It was a photo of a healthy young girl dying, in front of cameras, surrounded by people, trying to rescue her. Years passed, but I could never forget this girl or her story. Her name was Omayra Sánchez.

Omayra was a 13-year-old Colombian girl, who lived with her mom, dad, brother and aunt in a town called Armero, located below the Nevado del Ruiz volcano.

On November 13, 1985, the volcano erupted, and created huge mud/landslides that completely buried the town. Out of 31,000 people who lived in the area, about 22,000 died.

When mudslides destroyed Omayra’s house, her dad and aunt died, and she became trapped under concrete and debris, and could not free herself.

Divers discovered that Sánchez's legs were caught under a door made of bricks, with her aunt's arms clutched tightly around her legs and feet (Wikipedia)

Omayra managed to get her hand out of the ruins, so the rescue workers discovered her. During the course of that first day, they managed to clear the debris and wood that surrounded her, but realized that her legs were trapped in such a way that it was impossible to get her out.

At this time, she was still positive. She talked to reporters and rescue workers, sang, and asked for sweets and soda.

Rescue workers tried different ways of freeing her, but nothing worked. When they tried pulling her out, they realized that it was impossible to do so without breaking her legs in the process. Also, each time they tried pulling her, the level of water rose around her.

As her ordeal went on, Omayra became scared. Her spirits went down and she cried and prayed.

This lasted for three days. No attempts of rescuing her worked. As the last attempt they considered forcefully pulling her out. However, they discovered that Omayra’s legs were bent as if she was kneeling, and that if they did this, the legs would get severed.

Doctors who were present discussed this option, but decided that she would not survive this maneuver, because they did not have surgical equipment to save her from the effects of amputation.

They concluded that it would be more humane to let her die.

As end was coming close, Omayra started hallucinating. She spoke of being late for school and mentioned a math exam.

Her face become swollen, her eyes reddened and her hands become white.

She died on November 16th either from gangrene or hypothermia.

Cameras recorded her message to her mother, who was out of town when this happened:

Mom, if you are listening, and I guess you are, pray for me to be able to walk and that these people help me. Mommy, I love you and Dad and my brother. Goodbye, Mom.

I sometimes wish I could unsee/unknow Omayra’s story.

On the other hand, I feel that it deserves to be known and spoken about, so that these kind of tragedies do not repeat in the future.

So that she does not simply vanish into nothingness.

After Omayra’s tragic death, just as the death of thousands of people of Armero, many questions arose. If the residents were warned and evacuated on time, so many people could have been saved. Secondly, the rescue workers did not have many of the basic tools they needed to rescue Omayra and other survivors.

A banner at a mass funeral read, "The volcano didn't kill 22,000 people. The government killed them."

Some of you heard Omayra’s story before, and others read about her for the first time. I wanted to make a tribute for her bravery and positive spirit. Her name should be known for what she was, a brave little fighter.

I am so sorry that her light went out, just as I was beginning my life, thousands of miles away.