Lenny Ruiz Fernández was 38 years old and had a dog named Salomón. She lived in Cali, although she was born in Pasto, and on the tenth of August, the ground in Colombia split in two.
The Ana Pilar building, in the Cuarto de Legua neighborhood, collapsed like everything that was not prepared for a 7.4-magnitude earthquake. Lenny was trapped under the concrete. Salomón was too.
Civil Defense rescuers dug for hours. When they finally reached her, Lenny was no longer breathing. But beneath her body, in her arms, Salomón was still alive.
No one can say for certain what happened in those seconds before everything came crashing down. But the outcome speaks for itself: she was on top, covering him. He was underneath, protected.
Lenny also worked for the Pasto Animal Protection Board. It was no coincidence that a dog ended up being saved by her embrace. It was, perhaps, the habit of a lifetime spent caring for those who cannot care for themselves.
Today Salomón is receiving medical care. He eats, walks, starts over. And every time someone tells his story, they are really telling hers: that of a woman who, even when the world collapsed on top of her, did not let go of the one she loved.
There are embraces that hold you up. Lenny’s, moreover, sustained a life.