Written by Four lucky children in Columbia were rescued after being alone in a remote area of the Columbian Amazon Rainforest.
On May 1st, 2023, 9-year-old Soleiny, 13-year-old Lesly, 11-month-old Cristin, and four-year-old Tien Norie flew with their mother on a small plane on their way to the town of San Jose del Guaviare.
The engine in the plane failed, and the plane crashed into the jungle. Unfortunately, there was bad weather, so it took the Columbian army a while to get to the crash site. They finally came on May 16, 2023.
They found the body of the mother, pilot, and other adults who rode the plane. However, the kids were nowhere to be found. Clues were found through a baby bottle, small shoes, and tiny footprints near the wreckage.
The children belonged to the Huitoto tribe, where they were taught valuable skills to survive in the wild. When the soldiers and searchers found this out, they gained hope.
On June 9th, 2023, a whole 40 days after the crash, the kids were discovered by an indigenous rescue team. They were found huddled together in their shelter, just 3 miles, or 4.8 km, away from the plane crash.
The soldiers later found out that they had gotten very close to the children multiple times, but the kids were frightened, so they hid. The children were found injured, but all of them were alive. They are recovering from the traumatic experience.
The reason for the kid’s survival was the 13-year-old girl, Lesly. She fed her baby sister water mixed with cassava flour retrieved from the plane.
She would find edible fruits and plants for her and her siblings to eat, and the kids also found a box of food air-dropped by the army. The shelter was provided with a mosquito net and a tarp from the wreckage.
The children are doing much better today and are national celebrities and icons in Columbia. I’m sure that their story will continue to inspire others forever.
