A mother’s determination helped keep hope alive after she and her newborn son spent 32 terrifying hours trapped beneath the ruins of a collapsed building following a powerful earthquake.

When the earthquake struck La Guaira on June 24, the building where Dayana Patiño was staying crumbled within moments, leaving the young mother buried beneath layers of concrete and debris.

Pinned so tightly that she could barely move, Dayana found herself unable to free her crushed leg. Surrounded by darkness and with almost no room to move, she held the one thing that mattered most—her 18-day-old baby boy.

As the hours slowly passed, fear gave way to determination.

With no way of knowing when help might arrive, Dayana focused all of her strength on protecting her son. She listened to every tiny breath, holding him close and comforting him as they waited together beneath the wreckage.

“I kept telling myself that as long as my baby was with me, I had to stay strong,” she later recalled. “I couldn’t give up.”

For 32 long hours, mother and child remained trapped, hoping someone would hear them.

Then, through the silence, Dayana heard a familiar voice.

It was her brother, calling her name from somewhere above the rubble.

Gathering every bit of strength she had left, she shouted back. Her voice guided rescuers to the exact spot where she and her baby were trapped.

When emergency crews finally reached them, the outcome was nothing short of remarkable.

Dayana and her newborn were both alive.

The baby was found with only minor injuries despite the devastating collapse, while Dayana was taken for treatment after suffering serious injuries to one of her legs.

Rescuers described the reunion as an emotional moment, while loved ones expressed overwhelming gratitude that both mother and son had survived such an unimaginable ordeal.

Although Dayana now faces a period of recovery, her family says they are simply thankful to have been given another chance together.

In the darkest place imaginable, with no certainty that help would arrive, a mother’s love never wavered—and that unwavering hope became the light that ultimately led rescuers to her and her little boy.

Source: AOL