Fabiana Blanco is 12 years old and lived in a ten-story building in Caraballeda, Venezuela. On June 24, 2026, two consecutive earthquakes —one of magnitude 7.2 and another of 7.5— brought down her home while she was inside.
She was trapped under the rubble with her leg immobilized. There, among the debris, she found a bottle of ketchup and some grated cheese. She ate them slowly, not out of hunger, but so she wouldn’t pass out. That was how she endured 32 hours of darkness and silence.
A neighboring nurse, rescued hours earlier, alerted rescuers that Fabiana was still alive.
A volunteer named Viktor located her and coordinated the final rescue, carried out using the lights of motorcycles and cars because there was no electricity. When they finally opened a hole large enough, Fabiana smiled. Her mother, Karina, had already lost hope. That gesture restored it completely.