As tens of thousands remain missing after back-to-back earthquakes rocked Venezuela, the harrowing survival story of Dayana Patino and her 18-day-old son has captivated a grieving nation, offering a beacon of hope amid a tragedy that has left nearly 1,500 dead and 3,000 injured.

Patino was home doing laundry inside her eighth-floor apartment when the ground began to shake violently. She quickly grabbed her baby to protect him, hoping it would “only be a light tremor,” she told BBC News.

“I felt like I was flying. After that, I felt like I was sinking in water and dirt, and then I fell into the pit where I remained,” Patino said. “I don’t know how I didn’t let go of my baby because I was flying. I got crushed against furniture.”

Her first instinct was to scream, but she quickly realized her efforts would be futile in the chaos. “I said to myself, ‘I’m not going to waste my energy — I’m going to scream when it’s needed, when I hear voices or steps nearby.’”

She explained to the BBC that she still cannot comprehend how she remained so calm. “My left leg was trapped under concrete. I couldn’t move. My temple was pressed against a rock.”

But the young mother found hope in the darkness when she realized there was a Bible resting just underneath her. “There began my journey of survival,” Patino said, noting that it was her son’s fragile life in her arms that gave her the “motivation to be awake and alert.”

“As long as he was alive, I was going to be alive. Every now and then I was touching his nose for proof that he was still breathing,” she explained.

Everything around her was pitch black, save for a single “pinprick of light that looked like the moon.”

Then, she finally heard something familiar: her brother’s voice calling out her name.

“I said to myself, ‘This is my only chance.’ From the top of my lungs I cried out … I screamed, ‘Here I am’ with all my might, and he said, ‘I found you, and I promise you that I won’t leave until I get you out.’”

Following hours of strategic digging, rescuers successfully lifted both mother and child from the rubble on Thursday night. Patino suffered injuries to both of her legs, but, remarkably, baby Juan David sustained only very minor scratches.

Patino’s husband, Gerson, had just pulled up to the apartment building when the earthquake began, surviving only by jumping over a nearby fence. He describes having his family safe as nothing short of a miracle.

“It was indescribable. I thought they were dead. And when I saw my son I felt like I was born again. I couldn't believe it … I felt the life come back to me,” he told the BBC.

The story of baby Juan David’s survival has become a symbol of resilience for countless other Venezuelans praying for miracles. While the family’s home was destroyed and they lost everything — including their dog, who is still missing — they are determined to move forward.

“We lost almost everything, but here we are,” Gerson declared. “We will rebuild everything we lost.”