Venezuela earthquake: Mum of newborn rescued from under rubble says baby motivated her

“I said to myself I’m not going to waste my energy – I’m going to scream when it’s needed, when I hear voices or steps nearby,” she said.

“I don’t know how I kept so calm because my left leg was trapped under concrete. I couldn’t move. My temple was pressed against a rock.”

Dayana said she found hope when she felt a bible beneath her.

“There began my journey of survival,” she said.

In the darkness of the rubble, she could see a “pinprick of light that looked like the moon”.

She said her rescue came after she heard her brother calling her name.

“I said to myself, this is my only chance. From the top of my lungs I cried out… I screamed ‘Here I am’ with all my might, and he said ‘I found you, and I promise you that I won’t leave until I get you out’.”

He kept that promise, and a delicate rescue operation followed to bring both mother and baby out of the rubble on Thursday night.

Dayana suffered injuries to both of her legs when the earthquake hit while Juan fortunately only sustained minor injuries.