Lesly Mucutuy was only 13 years old when a plane crash left her in the Colombian Amazon with her three siblings, aged 9, 5, and 11 months. Her mother and two other adults lost their lives in the crash.
For the next 40 days, the four children remained alone in the jungle. Lesly used knowledge she had learned from her Indigenous Huitoto family to identify edible fruits, find water, and look for places to take shelter. They also found cassava flour among the wreckage, which helped feed the baby.
Finally, on June 9, 2023, search teams found the four siblings alive, a few kilometers from where the plane had crashed.
They were weakened and showed signs of malnutrition, but they had managed to survive for more than five weeks in one of the most challenging areas of the Colombian jungle.
Lesly’s story became one of the best-known examples of child survival in Colombia. Authorities and family members especially highlighted her knowledge of the jungle, her leadership, and the care she showed her siblings during those 40 days. 🌿❤️
