A woman saved her two children by continuing to breastfeed them for four consecutive days, despite suffering from dehydration after their boat was lost at sea, which ultimately led to her death. According to The Independent on September 17, 2021, eight people were on board the boat, including the deceased mother, Marly Chacon, and her family, on a recreational trip in Miranda, Venezuela, on September 3. They were accompanied by another boat following the same route.
Minutes after departing from the uninhabited island of La Tortuga, an electrical malfunction was reported on one of the boats. After the boat resumed its journey following repairs, it allegedly hit a large wave, splitting it in half and leaving its passengers floating in the deep sea, 70 miles from the shore. In a desperate attempt to save her six-year-old son and her two-year-old daughter, Marly continued to breastfeed them. To survive, she reportedly drank her own urine but ultimately died from dehydration and heat stroke.
Four days after the boat sank, the children were found clinging to their mother on a small life raft. Authorities took them to a hospital in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, where they were treated for first-degree burns, dehydration, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Marly, the mother, suffered organ failure due to electrolyte depletion caused by dehydration resulting from breastfeeding, according to a source in forensic medicine cited by La Republica.
Veronica Martinez, the 25-year-old nanny of the children, survived the sinking boat after being found inside an empty ice chest. She was hospitalized due to severe dehydration, hypothermia, and post-traumatic stress disorder. According to El Diario, the nanny experienced a rapid heart rate, low blood pressure, fever, delirium, and dry skin from sun exposure and required sedation. Authorities did not find the children's father, Ramos Clamour, and three others who were with him on board.
