A young teenager, just 13 years old, was walking home on Thursday, 15 May 2025 at 4pm in the Lavapie sector of San Cristobal during a torrential downpour. Because of the flooded streets, she decided to take a less-known route home. It was a near-tragic decision. She was swept away by the torrential runoff and sucked into a open sewage drain. She was rescued and hospitalized and is now recovering.
For her it was a nightmare that will accompany her for life. For hours and hours, Sheilyn Vizcaíno was trapped underneath the streets of Lavapie barely surviving. To many, her survival is a miracle. According to the girl’s recounting of the events, she managed to find a high spot inside the drainage tunnel, and there she remained until her rescue around 8 hours later, after midnight by two community members.
Civil Defense, the Fire Department, members of the COE (Center for Emergency Operations), and community volunteers worked on the case. After midnight, after many of the rescuers had given up hope, it would be a community team of two that working on their own insisted on the search, found her and took her to the San Cristóbal medical center where she is recovering.
There are several conflicting stories as to exactly what happened during the entire rescue process. One report says that the Fire Department rescuers supposed she would have flowed down where the drainage pipes merge into the nearby river, and thus that evening had called off the search until the next morning at 6am.
What is known is that a young man, Joel Casilla Rivera, nicknamed Sobieky got involved and climbed down into the drain. A rope was put on him and an official search rescuer but after walking for several meters into the drain, the rescue operators called them back for security reasons. He thought he had heard the girl calling for help.
However, he was told by a member of Civil Defense that it was useless. After returning to his home, bathing, and going to bed, Sobieky found that he could not sleep and returned to the drainage area where he thought he had heard a voice. He convinced another community member that he had heard the girl and they both went down under after the rescue teams had left. Going into the large pipes once again, he found the girl, and the rest is a beautiful story of a successful rescue.
As things calmed down, the young lady was praised for her intelligence in using her shoe as a pillow and for managing to stay upright throughout the ordeal.
The rescuers were praised for their humanitarian spirit.
The rescuer who called off the search until the next day, the Center for Emergency Operations San Cristobal chief, Conrado Bernard, was fired.
The young girl is recovering at the Centro Médico Constitución (CEMECON) in San Cristobal. Her family says there are plans to celebrate a thank you mass.
In an editorial, Diario Libre urges the government take action to prevent the lack of drainage coverages that are frequent as criminals steal the metal covers. Meanwhile, the story is a warning to avoid traveling on flooded streets.
Follow the story:
Diario Libre
Diario Libre
Diario Libre
Diario Libre
Diario Libre
El Show de Liunny
Listin Diario
Listin Diario
Listin Diario
Listin Diario
Listin Diario
Somos Pueblo
Somos Pueblo
19 May 2025