Omayra Sánchez was a little 13 years old girl who lived in Armero when the Nevado del Ruíz erupted. When the lahar destroyed her house, her father and aunt died inside. She was able to survive the lahar, but when rescue teams tried to help her, they realized that her legs were trapped under her house's roof. Once the girl was freed from the waist up, her rescuers attempted to pull her out, but found the task impossible without breaking her legs in the process. Rescue workers placed a tire around her body to avoid her to drown. Divers discovered that Sánchez's legs were caught under a door made of bricks, with her aunt's body under her feet.
Lacking the surgical conditions to save her from the effects of an amputation, the doctors agreed that it would be more humane to let her die. She suffered for nearly three nights (roughly 60 hours) before she died at 10:05 A.M. on November 16 from exposure, most likely from gangrene or hypothermia.