Daniela Largo, symbol of hope in Colombia earthquake, dies in hospital after 37 hours under rubble

The rescue that moved a nation

Daniela Andrea Largo Sánchez, 32, was pulled alive from a collapsed building in Pereira on Tuesday, nearly 37 hours after the magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck Colombia on Monday at 7:34 local time. A resident heard her screaming for help and alerted emergency services, who located her using a small camera. The Bogotá Fire Department later revealed that the rescue lasted about 10 hours, during which firefighters dug a tunnel beneath four concrete slabs to reach her. She was extracted on a stretcher amid cheers and applause from the crowd, an image that moved a nation still searching for at least 320 missing people. Pereira, together with Cali, was among the cities most affected by the earthquake.

A symbol of hope

President Abelardo de la Espriella celebrated the rescue on social media, describing it as news of hope. The rescue had drawn crowds to the site in Pereira, where onlookers watched and waited as teams worked through the rubble. The president's remarks came as search and rescue operations continued across multiple affected departments.

There is hope! We trust our rescuers and the sniffer dogs who work tirelessly, day and night, to find our missing brothers and sisters.

He added that Daniela Andrea Largo Sánchez, whom he described as 30 years old, had been found alive after seven hours of searching in Pereira, news that he said filled the country with hope and compelled it to continue believing.

Medical complications and death

After her rescue, Daniela appeared to be in good condition but suffered cardiac arrest in the ambulance, requiring resuscitation for about 17 minutes according to El Periódico, or 20 minutes according to El País. She was admitted to the intensive care unit at Hospital San Jorge in Pereira with a guarded prognosis, according to Mayor Mauricio Salazar. Her father, Julio César Largo, told Noticias Caracol that she suffered several further medical complications. Her right arm, which had been trapped under a door, developed an infection and was ultimately amputated. She died on Friday evening, August 14, according to her family's statement to AFP, though El Periódico and El País reported the death on Saturday, August 15.

A lot of complications. Her kidneys stopped working, her pulse dropped, the blood pressure... She had several episodes and she couldn't hold on.

Daniela's mother, identified as Sandra Milena Pérez by AFP-sourced articles and as Martha Emilce Sánchez by El País, had spoken to AFP by phone before her daughter's death.

I would like everything to finish quickly.

A survivor before the earthquake

Daniela was a cancer survivor. Five years earlier, she had been diagnosed with bone cancer, and doctors recommended amputating a leg, but she refused and continued with a prosthesis. Two years ago, the tumor returned with metastasis in her lungs, and doctors again spoke of amputation, but Daniela decided to stop treatment. Her mother told El País that Daniela wanted to remain whole when God called her, and the tumor, though not fully cured, went into remission. The crushing of her right arm during the earthquake likely complicated her condition through crush syndrome, common in earthquake victims, where prolonged compression of a limb cuts off blood supply and damages muscle tissue. Daniela leaves a 12-year-old son, and her body will be taken to Caldas for burial.

The toll mounts

The earthquake, described as the most powerful in Colombia this century, had its epicenter in San José del Palmar in the department of Chocó. The most affected departments were Chocó, Valle del Cauca, Risaralda, and Caldas. As of Saturday, August 15, the death toll rose to 294, up six from Friday's count, with 3,935 injured and 320 missing, according to the National Unit for Disaster Risk Management (UNGRD). The agency reported that 353 people had been rescued, and that 54,008 families, representing 115,461 people across 448 municipalities in 15 of the country's 32 departments, were affected.