Remembering the miracles of the 1985 Mexico earthquake (unbelievable stories)
On September 19, 1985, an earthquake rocked Mexico City, killing thousands of people, but heroes and incredible survivors rose above the destruction.
Here are the accounts of a baby that was saved from the debris, a surgeon who is still in operation despite losing four fingers, and the rescue team that was established during the disaster.
Surgeon with toes for fingers
At 7:19 in the morning, Francisco Bucio and his closest friend, Angel, were plastic surgery students on the fourth floor of the General Hospital in the capital when the earthquake occurred.
“Suddenly the (eight-floor) building bent, collapsed and I was in complete darkness. I realized that my right arm was trapped and my hand was crushed. I thought ‘My career’s over,'” he said.
“I heard screams from those who were trapped close to me, and little by little they became silent,” Bucio recalled. “I spent four days like that.”
He was eventually located by his six brothers, who persisted in searching through the pile of debris while the rescuers gave up trying to find survivors. He lost his best friend.
His right thumb was fixed by American doctors, who also fitted him with toes in place of his other four fingers, giving him the ability to hold a scalpel.
Bucio, 58, is a plastic surgeon in Tijuana, a city that borders California. Positive reviews from pleased clients can be found on his website.
The ‘Topos’
When buildings collapsed, Adrian Perez was one of thousands of Mexicans who immediately volunteered to save lives.
He was interning as an engineer at an office in a neighborhood spared from the devastation that befell the rest of the city.
According to him, he hurried to the severely damaged Roma neighborhood “without thinking,” saying it “looked like a war zone.”
His first task was to remove gas tanks from a college that had been “squashed like a sandwhich.”
When he’d finished that, he’d crawled back in among the crumbling, broken walls to discover a young woman, trapped between bodies and broken objects, moaning.
The Topos have travelled the world to provide aid in a number of disasters, such as the massive earthquake that struck Nepal in April and the Asian tsunami that struck in 2004.
“I never thought about the risks. I was only part of the strength of the entire population that was helping, without regard for social class, other people who needed this help,” Perez said. He is still in tears when he thinks about the 1985 tragedy.
Miracle babies
When the hospital where Jesus Francisco Rodriguez Santamaria was born collapsed, a rod was driven into his small chest, and he was only four days old.
“My life was hanging by a thread when they rescued me. The rod made me cry and that’s how they heard me,” Rodriguez said.
But his mother ended up becoming one of the 6,000–20,000 people who passed away that day.
Rodriguez, who turned thirty on September 15, resides in the capital’s southern region, far from the area where his maternity hospital was situated and the area that was most severely damaged.
Although a dedicated fund was established for the kids, it was only operational until they reached college age.
After eighteen years of working at gas stations, Rodriguez recently started law school. Despite his limp from his injuries, he is still able to play football.
The survivor drew strength from the medallion of the Virgin Mary that was discovered in his closed, tiny fist upon his rescue, as well as the love of his adoptive aunt and uncle. No one is sure who placed it there.
Body Fat Helped Babies Survive Quake
The fact that twelve newborns survived for days beneath the debris from Mexico’s powerful earthquake before being rescued, according to pediatricians, is not shocking.
“We often underestimate the protective buffer that Mother Nature offers to newborns,” said Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center pediatrician Dr. Karl F. Schulze. “It is true that humans evolved from the wild, where conditions were not always ideal.”
According to medical professionals, extra body fat makes up 15% of the weight of a healthy newborn. This fat helps the baby get through the first few days of life, when the mother’s milk is scarce and not very nourishing.
According to Schulze, a baby can go up to a month without eating, so it’s normal for them to lose a little weight in the first few days of their lives.
But just like adults, babies also require water to survive, and the biggest threat the Mexico City babies faced was dehydration.
According to Schulze, if water is available, a baby will instinctively drink it. Schulze referenced a well-known instance of an Indian dump site child who survived for weeks by consuming runoff water that was rich in nutrients.
A baby’s metabolism also slows down during physical stress, so it can conserve water and energy by lying still and not moving. According to medical professionals, if a child has something covering their face or nose, it will wriggle free and into clear air.
Babies need a warm environment more than adults do.
Director of the neonatology division at the Montifiore Medical Center Dr. Alan R. Fleischman stated, “Babies don’t shiver like adults do, so they create body heat by burning sugar.” “We keep babies wrapped and dressed in extra clothes because they are delicate.”
The majority of the babies that had survived and were found in the city’s medical center complex were covered in blankets and kept in incubators.The first baby was discovered 55 hours after the catastrophe and the last a few days later.
Hypoglycemia Feared
As a result of running out of sugar, some of the babies discovered in Mexico might experience hypoglycemia, and others might experience brain damage, according to Dr. David A. Clark, a medical professor at the New York Medical College in Valhalla. Those discovered early, though, ought to recover swiftly, he added.
“An adult has unquestionably more advantages than a baby in a situation like this,” he stated. “Yet babies are more resilient than most people realize.”
3 men lived on top of a billboard in tents for almost 9 months
From 1982-1983, three men in Allentown PA competed in a radio contest in which they lived on top of a billboard in tents. Whoever stayed up longest would win a house. Due to economic pressure from the recession, none of the contestants wanted to give up, so the contest lasted almost 9 months.
Susanna Salter: The Trailblazing Story of America’s First Female Mayor
In 1887, Susanna Salter became the first female mayor in the United States, elected in Argonia, Kansas. Her nomination was initially a prank by men opposing women in politics. However, she won by a landslide and served effectively, inspiring the women’s suffrage movement and breaking barriers for women in leadership.
Martin Couney, Saved Thousands of Premature Babies Wasn’t a Doctor at All
Martin Couney never qualified as a medical doctor. However, in the 1900s, he saved thousands of premature babies by exhibiting them in incubators at his Coney Island sideshow. Over the course of his career, he is said to have saved about 6,500 babies that had previously been written off by mainstream medicine.
The true story Of The Radium Girls that change US labor laws
Hundreds of young women worked in clock factories during World War I, painting watch dials with luminous radium paint. The company lied about the risk of radiation, claiming there was no danger, which resulted in the death of the young women.
Juliane Koepcke: The Teenager Who Fell 10,000 Feet And Trekked The Jungle to survive
In 1971, a high school student was sucked out of an airplane after it was struck by lightning. She fell 10,000 feet to the ground while still strapped to her chair and survived. Only to endure a 9-day trek to the nearest civilization.
Max Headroom Incident: America’s Creepiest TV Hack
In 1987 a man hijacked a television station during an episode of Dr. Who and wore a Max Headroom mask and uttered nonsense, and he still hasn’t been caught
The Day an Israeli F-15 Landed with One Wing: Zivi Nedivi’s Unbelievable Mid-Air Survival
Discover the astonishing true story of Israeli pilot Zivi Nedivi, who safely landed an F-15 after a mid-air collision tore off its entire right wing. Learn how skill, quick thinking, and the F-15’s unique design turned a disaster into a legendary feat in aviation history
Roller Coasters were First Invented to Distract People from sin
Roller coasters were invented to distract Americans from sin. In the 1880s, hosiery businessman LaMarcus Thompson didn’t like that Americans were going to places like saloons and brothels and created the first roller coaster on Coney Island to persuade them to go there instead.
Medals of Friendship: The Enduring Olympic Story of 1936
At the 1936 Summer Olympics, two Japanese pole vaulters named Sueo Oe and Shuhei Nishida tied for second, but they declined to compete against each other. As a result, Nishida was awarded the silver medal and Oe won a bronze medal. Upon returning to Japan, the athletes had their medals cut in half and spliced together to create new "friendship medals," which were half silver and half bronze.
Why was the Eiffel Tower almost demolished
The Eiffel Tower was intended to be a temporary structure for the World's Fair in 1889, but it was nearly dismantled and sold for scrap metal. It was saved because of its potential use as a radio antenna, and it now serves as a tourist attraction as well as a working broadcast tower.
William James Sidis: The smartest person yet forgotten by people
William James Sidis, who was only 11 years old when he enrolled in Hardvard, finished his primary and secondary schooling in less than a year. He knew eight foreign languages by the age of eight and even invented his own language, "vedergood."
Blanche Monnier: Imprisoned For 25 Years For Falling in Love
Blanche Monnier, she was a French woman noted for her beauty, she wished to marry an old lawyer that her mother disapproved of, so she locked her in a small dark room in her attic for 25 years.
A Brief History of the PlayStation Gaming Console
Sony's PlayStation was never meant to be an actual product. Instead, it was intended to be a CD-ROM console that would support Nintendo games. However, when Nintendo backed out of the deal at the last minute, Sony went ahead and launched what soon became one of the most successful gaming consoles of all time.
The Horrific story of Ariel Castro and the Cleveland abduction
Cleveland abduction victims Gina DeJesus, Michelle Knight, and Amanda Berry were forced to live in Ariel Castro's house of horrors for 10 years. He raped and beat them until they escaped in 2013.
The true story of Annie Oakley, legendary sharpshooter
Anne Oakley was such a good shooter that she could split a playing card help edge-on, hit dimes thrown into the air, shoot cigarette from her husband's lips, and pierce a playing card thrown into the air before it hit the ground.
The unbroken seal on King Tutankhamun's tomb until 1922
The unbroken seal of Tutankhamun's tomb before it was opened in 1923, it was unbroken for over 3000 years.
Vince Coleman, a railway dispatcher, sacrificed his own life
Vince Coleman, a railway dispatcher, sacrificed his life in order to warn an incoming train of an imminent explosion. His telegraph said “Hold up the train. Ammunition ship afire in harbor making for Pier 6 and will explode. Guess this will be my last message. Good-bye, boys.” He saved 300 lives.
The World’s First Seismograph: How Ancient China Detected Earthquakes 1,800 Years Ago
Over 1,800 years ago, long before modern technology, the ancient Chinese astronomer and inventor Zhang Heng created the world’s first seismograph in 132 AD. This ingenious bronze device could detect distant earthquakes by releasing small balls from dragons’ mouths into toads’ mouths—each indicating a different compass direction. Its historic detection of an earthquake 400 miles away astonished the imperial court and transformed the way societies understood and responded to seismic events.
During the 1996 Olympic bombing, Richard Jewell falsely accused of committing the crime after saving dozens of people
Richard Jewell, an American security guard, discovered a bomb during the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta and assisted in the evacuation, but was later wrongfully accused and faced public scrutiny. He was cleared, but it had a lasting impact on him until his death in 2007 at the age of 44.
Nordlingen, The Town Inside A Meteorite Crater With Millions Of Meteorite Diamonds
The German town of Nördlingen is embedded with 72,000 tons of microscopic diamonds. About 15 million years ago, a meteorite hit this region, and the impact created a massive depression and formed rocks containing diamonds, glass, and crystals. The town was built in the impact crater sometime around 898 CE.
Top 10 Greatest and shocking Archaeological Discoveries of All Time
While we're all locked at home, there's no better way to escape to another time and place than to learn about amazing archeological sites and discoveries from around the world. Here are the 10 greatest and shocking archaeological discoveries —and don't be shocked if they inspire future trip plans whenever it's safe to do so again.
Mother who spent entire life savings for daughter’s cancer treatment won the lottery
A mother won $2 million from a $10 scratch-off lottery ticket after she spent all of her entire life savings to pay her daughter’s cancer treatment. She bought the winning ticket after her daughter’s last cancer treatment.
10 world’s most destructive and dangerous volcanic eruptions in history
Volcanic eruptions can devastate cities, change the world's atmosphere, and devastate economic systems. They can create molten lava rivers, mudslides, suffocating ash, and poisonous gases that cause chaos around the world for years. A volcanic explosion's effects can be massive, from its size to its death toll to its economic cost. Here is ten world’s most destructive and dangerous volcanic eruptions in history.
Nearest Green, America's first known Black master distiller
Nathan "Nearest" Green was an African-American head stiller who is now more frequently referred to as a master distiller. He was renowned for imparting his distilling knowledge to Jack Daniel, the creator of Jack Daniel's Tennessee whiskey distiller, after Jack Daniel was freed from slavery following the American Civil War.
The History Behind the “No One Dies Alone” Program
In 1986, while doing a night shift at the hospital, Sandra Clarke, a registered nurse, was asked by an elderly patient to stay. She promised to be back after checking on her other patients, but by the time she returned, the gentleman had passed away. Clarke became one of the key figures in launching No One Dies Alone, a program that allows volunteers to sit with terminal patients who have no one else.
