Stephany Echevarría was holding her two-year-old daughter in her arms when the building began to collapse.
She did not think of herself. She shielded the girl as the rods from the structure pierced her legs. The 7.4-magnitude earthquake that shook Cali on August 10, 2026 took her mother and grandmother, who died beside her amid the rubble of the Airuaní building. She was rescued eight hours later, alive but with her legs shattered.
She spent 41 days in intensive care and underwent more than 15 surgeries. She lost her left leg, and the right one had to be amputated. When everything seemed lost, another woman who knows that pain firsthand decided to step in: Daniela Álvarez, who lost her own leg in 2020, visited her and promised her something that sounds almost impossible after so much loss: “Let’s get you back on your feet”. Her foundation is already working to get her prostheses and support her through every step of her rehabilitation.
