Blog de Valentina Oropeza

Daniela Villarroel took off her boots and uniform in the garden. He didn’t want the smell of death to enter his house.

This 28-year-old volunteer firefighter immersed herself in the rubble of La Guaira for 18 days to rescue survivors and recover bodies.

And he answered questions I asked myself after listening to family and friends talk about the scare they have been carrying in their bodies since the earthquakes in Venezuela.

Do rescuers feel fear when they are under the ruins?

How do you deal with the memory of bodies?

And Daniela told her experience:

“Imagine you’re inside a tunnel, inside that little hole, and an aftershock occurs and the first thing you hear is people saying, ‘It’s shaking again.’ Then you see stones or dirt falling.”

“I went down about six meters through a tunnel one meter in diameter. I had to go in like a little worm.”

“At that time, the most important thing is psychological support for the survivor (…) If you break, the faster he will break.”

“I couldn’t sleep, I didn’t have an appetite, I heard voices.”

Although I had (compulsively) watched all the videos I found on social networks about rescuers in La Guaira, Daniela’s story revealed to me how calm, will, and dedication are also ways to address fear.

His testimony triggers new questions:

What makes a person willing to risk their life to save a stranger?

Where do we keep the fear of dying to save others, if we are aware that no one will come to our rescue in case the situation worsens?