“She survived because she never gave up.”
It’s difficult to imagine the horrifying reality of a fiery plane crash — but imagine enduring that ordeal with a tiny baby in tow.
That’s exactly what one brave teenaged mother did — before miraculously keeping herself and her child alive for four days in the dense Colombian jungle.
María Nelly Murillo and her baby boy were travelling from Chocó province to the city of Quibdó in the South American country when the small plane in which they were flying caught fire.
Colombian air force spokesperson Colonel Rodrigo Zapata told CNN the pilot died in the crash, while 18-year-old Ms Murillo was left with burns, stranded in thick jungle with her one-year-old son Yudier Moreno.
According to local media, the brave young mother survived on coconut water from the coconuts the plane had been carrying — a move that kept her hydrated enough to keep breastfeeding to nourish her vulnerable son.
It’s also reported she may have met some indigenous people who offered assistance, although full details of her ordeal continue to emerge.
BBC News reports the small Cessna plane on which the pair were travelling disappeared from civil aviation authorities’ radar about 20 minutes into the 30-minute flight. When the pilot failed to respond to calls, a search plane was despatched.
Arriving at the crash site, the rescuers found coconut shells near the plane, a discarded flip flop in the jungle, and baby Yudier’s birth certificate near a tree.
