How did four children manage to survive 40 days in the Colombian jungle after crashing? This is the question that has been on everyone’s lips since Lesly (13 years old), Soleiny (9 years old), Tien Noriel (5 years old) and Cristin (1 year old) were found on Friday afternoon by soldiers and indigenous people, in southern from Colombia.
The first elements of a response were given by a relative of the survivors, who confided to the Parisian. It was Adriana Carrera, a close friend of the children’s grandmother, who gave the details of this miracle. “[Leur grand-père] I call to let me know. He was very moved and grateful to the Mother Forest. He said that the children had endured thanks to nature, ”says the friend. A closeness that turned out to be saving.
“This community of Chukiki, who are part of the Uitoto Indians, have been evangelized. But they have maintained their animistic beliefs and their deities. Plants like coca and tobacco are in his eyes as sacred as the Eucharist”.
“The family always knew we would find the children”
Adriana Carrera assures her that the grandparents “never” doubted the fate of the children. They relied on their mother’s upbringing that “taught them all” about survival. She says, for example, that nursery rhymes sung to children taught them to distinguish edible plants from toxic ones.
As for the youngest, Cristin, barely eleven months old, her survival is, once again, a feat. But she would be a feat of the older sister of hers Lesly of hers. “At 13, she’s already a preteen. She therefore, she was able to have children. Her mother, therefore, trained her to face her future role ”, underlines her relative.
“After the plane crash, Lesly had the reflex to snatch the baby from her mother’s arms, to search through the rubble for the suitcase with the nappies (…) it’s a huge testament to her maturity.”
satisfactory recovery
A few days after their rescue, the children’s condition improves. Adriana Carrera specifies that they are “hydrated”, “thin” and “very tired”. They can only be fed by one brew at the moment.
However, the first news is positive. The children “are in a satisfactory recovery process,” authorities said Monday. “They are in a very good mood, they have been coloring and drawing,” said Adriana Velásquez, deputy director of the Colombian Institute for Family Protection (ICBF).
There remains the question of the future of the brothers. After the death of their mother, the two youngest must go live with their father. The older two were not recognized by him. He has not “appeared since the rescue of him,” according to the grandmother’s relative. The grandparents hope to gain custody of the four miracles.
Source: BFM TV
