“We don’t have any inheritance to give her. On Thursday night, Deputy Interior Minister Fernando Perez Correa told reporters that 1,825 bodies had been recovered from the rubble of the two earthquakes that rocked Mexico on Sept. 19 and 20. Jazmín was not only a “miracle baby,” but the first to be rescued from the ruins of a Mexico City hospital after the devastating earthquake of 1985. To look at the "ninos" today as they approach a quarter century of life is to see a reflection of the hopes and dreams, some fulfilled and some dashed, of the Mexican people. Milagros suffered mostly cuts and bruises, but she also is missing the third knuckle on her left hand from a crushed bone that never developed. Foreign donors provided funds to pay for their medical care and even their education. At least six infants, five girls and a boy, have been pulled from the debris of two hospitals. Araceli, who calls herself an atheist, says she does not believe in miracles. Her mother’s body was never found. Between Mexico City and the epicenter 250 miles to the southwest lie the Sierra Madre mountains dotted with remote towns. Another’s OB/GYN tower falls, killing patients and medical staff. Her mother, Maria de Jesus Romo, was in another part of the hospital when the temblor hit and was rescued two days after her daughter. The "miracle babies" of Mexico City have been the poster children of survival for almost 25 years. “He is very strong, very courageous.” He tells his adopted parents he wants to return to school one day and become a social worker. The youngest girl in a family of seven children, Milagros is an assistant to a building contractor and earns 200 pesos (just over $16) a day. One fateful night in Los Angeles, and an incident between police and a man named Rodney King eventually ignited the powder keg of civil unrest in Southern California, also known as the L.A. November 26, on the STS-61-B mission Rodolfo Neri Vela became the first Mexican and second Latin American astronaut to reach into space. “To me, it’s like paying the hospital back. She and Cuevas said that because the infants had only primitive vision and no sense of being in danger, they were unlikely to suffer any lasting psychological trauma. Their lot in life, and their challenges, are not unlike those facing the children and adults rescued in Haiti in recent weeks. Evelia Alvarez Gasca, good-humored and playful, likes to sing and dance. With both of his thighs strapped into prostheses and a warm smile on his face, Victor Hernandez has grown up with strength, grace and optimism. She had four children and didn’t want more. The Mexico City earthquake was the most catastrophic in the country's history. His aunt Graciela Rodriguez and her husband Leonardo — who later became Jesus’ adopted parents — waited for days outside the hospital for news. September 19, a magnitude 8.0 earthquake struck in Mexico City. “The hardest thing was seeing videos of 1985 every September in school,” says Juana Jazmin Arias. She later named her baby Milagros Guadalupe for the milagro, or miracle, and the Virgin of Guadalupe, Mexico’s patron saint. "He’s the only son we had.”. The effects of the quake were particularly devastating because of the type of ground upon which the city sits. By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies and Privacy Policy. Her mother was crushed, held down by the debris, and could not move even to feed her. "We began receiving victims within hours, nine at first. They are four babies who were buried alive just hours after their birth when the Juarez Hospital in central Mexico City collapsed during the first of two killer earthquakes last week. The infants embodied a stubborn determination to hold on to life, a symbol of human resiliency amid disaster. These buildings tended to resonate most with the energetic frequency band of the lakebed motions. The babies weighed an average of just over 5 pounds at birth. “The life he has, he has won,” says Leonardo. ''It is really little more than a ball of water.''. Rescue workers saved three girls from the ruins of the Benito Juarez Hospital in Mexico City seven days after the 8.1 earthquake. The complete seismic event consisted of four quakes. Claudia graduated from high school and now works in a factory that makes kitchen appliances. Today, he is a freelance journalist specializing in Latin America. The a baby girl and beat out bolsa S born last Thursday just minutes before the earthquake. On September 19, 1985, at 7:18 in the morning, the residents of Mexico City were jolted awake by an 8.1-magnitude earthquake, one of the strongest to ever hit the area. The miracle of baby Jesus, rescued during the 1985 Mexico City earthquake Jesus Francisco (center), one of the so-called "miracle children" who survived the Sept. 19, … “When we started school, everyone knew us. She had 37 broken bones, including her pelvis. On their final day of waiting, Leonard had gone to another part of the city to check on family members. “People tell me that I take life very seriously. She died, and for five days her child, one arm and ribs crushed and with a severe head injury, lay jammed into a dirty, rat-infested space hardly bigger than a shoebox. Petite, usually wearing tight jeans and with her nails sporting bright acrylics, Araceli is known to everyone in the Children’s Hospital, where she has worked for two years as a lab technician. But being alive is better than being dead. He is impulsive and has an explosive temper, says the older man sadly. “He says, ‘I don’t know why God didn’t just take me then,’” Leonardo says. On the morning of September 19, 1985 a magnitude 8.1 earthquake shook the ground beneath the city. The Children’s Hospital, next door to the General Hospital, somehow escaped major structural damage and the rescued children began arriving there almost immediately. ''I think that is part of the answer, that a fasting baby does not lose much,'' Holden said. ''That`s part. He keeps a blog and can be reached at www.johnenders.com. But it didn’t start out that way. The life of each “miracle baby” was turned upside down and inside out. (Courtesy of the hospital), As part of the celebration in 2000, the "miracle babies," then 15, were invited to the presidential residence, where they were hosted by the then-First Lady of Mexico Marta Sahagun Fox. For me, one of those haunting events took place a little over thirty years ago in Mexico City, Mexico. When he returned, he says, as he choked down tears from the memory of it: “They said, ‘he lives, he lives.’ It was amazing.”, Jesus, who refused to talk to a reporter about his life, left school early to work so he could help the family. With money donated by individuals and groups in Mexico and Europe, hospital authorities set up a trust fund whose earnings have paid for medicine and educational expenses. Sundays are sacred,” Claudia says. Among the most remarkable rescues was that of 58 newborn babies, pulled alive from the wreckage of a maternity ward three days after the earthquake struck. In the early years, the hospital provided free, government-paid medical and dental care, including multiple internal and reconstructive surgeries, for the babies. Her mother died in the earthquake, so Claudia eventually went to live with her mother's sisters. I dedicated myself to this girl. A team of doctors, nurses and social workers has cared for them all these years. Cuevas said another factor contributing to the babies` survival was the layer of special fat beneath the skin of newborns, which probably helped insulate them during the cool, rainy nights and supplied them with calories during the day. John Enders covered the aftermath of the 1985 earthquake in Mexico City for the Oregonian newspaper. Mexico City: Thousands of people died in an earthquake that devastated Mexico City on September 19, 1985, but heroes and miraculous survivors emerged from the tragedy. We couldn’t have done it without your support. The buildings most damaged were from 6 to 15 stories in height. Want to see what's on deck? https://www.pri.org/stories/2010-02-05/miracle-babies-mexico-city-25-years-later Others would grapple with lifelong disabilities hands down a miracle baby ” was turned upside down and inside.! Likes to sing and dance challenges, are not unlike those facing the children 's Hospital for the and. 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