“If we don’t run away, we’ll die”: the story behind one of Valencia’s most viral DANA videos

A man in a yellow T-shirt hits a glass door with a stick. The water that left the DANA In Valence It reaches up to his waist, but still continues to hit hard while the neighbors start recording.

When he was able to open the door, he turned around and, with effort, walked against the flow. SO, He is seen lifting a little girl into his arms and handing her to someone inside the building.

So he made several more trips to help other adults and children, including a woman who later identified herself as Laura Velasco, the mother of the girl the man saved and victim of the deadly rains that hit Spain.

The video of the rescue was one of the most viral on social media.

“The girl in the video is my daughter Noah and the hero who breaks down the door is my partner and ex-partner Dani. “If we hadn’t made it out, we would have died out there.” Laura said BBC World .

This is the story behind the video.

Laura and Dani founded an English academy in Paiporta six years ago. They had a daughter and, although they separated over time, they continue to love each other and be a family.

However, The DANA left virtually no trace of the place they had worked so hard to create.

“The pressure of the water caused the windows to shatter like in Titanic, and the water rushed in, destroying everything that had been put in place to contain it, the tables and the belongings, right down to the end of the local” said Laura BBC.

The afternoon when the Valencia tragedy began, Laura, Dani and their granddaughter Noah – along with two teachers and three other children – They heard police warning that Poyo Ravine had overflowed and people should stay safe at home.

And that’s it The current came down like a tsunami, with force and speed.

SO, They tried to take refuge at the academy. They reinforced the door with tables and furniture, but The water rose so high that the glass shattered.

Children and adults They were on top of the tables watching how everything was destroyed.

“The kids started screaming and we all hugged each other to try to calm them down and tell them it was going to stop, but we were really scared.”

That’s when Laura and Dani realized that If they didn’t leave the academy, they would soon drown. So they decided to leave.

By the time they escaped the academy, the street was empty. Laura saw that all the neighbors had already locked themselves in their houses and apartments and no one could come down to help them.

“The current was getting stronger and stronger and we saw a couple being dragged by the water, hugging each other, screaming because they couldn’t hold on to anything. “I don’t know what will become of them.”

Dani, the man responsible for the rescue, realized that the only solution was enter a multi-story building to take shelter at a height. However, they were all closed and the power did not allow the doors to be opened.

Until He saw that one of them had a glass door.

The man returned to the academy, He ripped the leg off a table and went back into the building to punch the glass, shattering it and allowing Laura, her daughter Noah, the two teachers and the three children to enter. who were in danger of drowning.

one of the neighbors He carried out the maneuver and He went down to the first floor to receive the children that Dani was happening to him.

“When I saw the stairs going up I thought ‘now we’re safe’, it was like a break.”

That night, they rested at the neighbor’s house who was helping them. They were given dry clothes and the children slept together in a bed.

“They were very courageous, “They were always encouraging each other.”

“We must give thanks because everything happened as it was supposed to happen, The window burst while the water still did not reach our necks and we managed to take refuge in the neighboring house. Also, I’m diabetic and didn’t have insulin here, but it turns out the boy who checked us in is also diabetic and was able to give it to me.