A woman who spent three days trapped beneath earthquake rubble stunned rescuers when the first thing she asked for after being pulled to safety was a Coca-Cola.
Marlene Santana, 69, survived the horror ordeal after her four-storey home collapsed during a devastating earthquake in Venezuela.
Emergency crews from El Salvador finally reached her on Saturday after she spent days buried beneath the wreckage in the Playa Grande neighbourhood of La Guaira.
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But after being pulled from the debris alive, Marlene had a surprising request.
She asked for a Coke.
Marlene is now recovering in Caracas while desperately waiting for news about members of her family who were also inside the house when it collapsed, as reported by Need To Know.
Speaking from her hospital bed, she said: “They brought me water through one of those little hoses.
“It was the most delicious water in the world.
“They asked me what else I wanted. I told them a Pepsi-Cola, a Coca-Cola.
“But honestly, I didn’t mean it as something I truly needed at that moment – I had just already had that water.”
Marlene suffered a head injury when the building came crashing down around her.
She believes she was trapped in what had been the kitchen because she could make out a coffee cup nearby.
She said: “When I raised my hand and felt around, it was a very tight space. I kept touching the sides.
“I couldn’t tell if it was a wall or wood. I couldn’t make it out because there was no light, nothing at all.”
During the ordeal, she could hear her sister crying out in pain after apparently suffering a leg injury.
But eventually the voice fell silent.
Her husband and daughter were also inside the property and she still has no information about what happened to them.
After days buried beneath the rubble, Marlene first heard a sniffer dog and then rescuers searching for survivors.
She said: “I told them: I can’t go on any more, because I’m badly injured underneath, my back. I can’t.
“They said to me, ‘Marlene, make one more effort.’”
Summoning the last of her strength, she crawled towards the rescue team and was pulled free.
Marlene said: “There were moments when I thought I wasn’t going to make it out, because I felt like I was running out of air.”
Despite her miraculous survival, the mum says her biggest concern remains the fate of her loved ones.
She added: “My daughter lived on the second floor. I don’t know anything about her.
“I don’t know anything about my husband. I don’t know anything about my sister.”
Salvadoran president Nayib Bukele later revealed her unusual request after the rescue.
He wrote: “As she emerged from the rubble, Doña Marlene asked us for a Coca-Cola.
“Our doctors explained to her that, for now, the most important thing was to hydrate her intravenously to stabilise her.
“She is now receiving medical care.
“God willing, may we be able to save more lives.”
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