Ana María Saavedra Caicedo was 23 years old and had two sisters identical to her. Sofía and Isabella. All three were born on the same day, studied the same degree, and worked at the same company. In practice, they were one life divided among three bodies.
On August 10, a magnitude 7.4 earthquake shook western Colombia. In Cali, the building where the three lived with their parents collapsed in seconds.
Their uncle Carlos can find no other way to tell it: he lost five relatives in an instant. His brother Jairo, his sister-in-law Vicky, the two triplets, and another uncle who had arrived minutes earlier. They found them embracing amid the rubble.
Only Ana María ran out through the main door. That same door fell on top of her and cushioned the collapse. Neighbors heard her calling for help. Within half an hour, she was already in the hospital.
For days, while they searched for Isabella beneath the rubble, Ana María held on to the hope that her sister was still alive. On the night of August 13, they found her body.
“It is very hard for Ana María; we had hope, but no”, her uncle said.
She woke up from surgery knowing that no one else remains. No parents, no sisters, not even the other half of herself who had walked beside her since the first day.
Of three, only one remains. And now she will have to learn to live for all three.