Farewell Eyes ...

There is no whiteness in the eyes of Omayra Sánchez, her eyes are completely darkened in this picture taken by Frank Fournier before the death of the little girl in a few hours.

At this moment, Omayra had reached a stage of hallucinations, after three days stuck under the rubble, She even asked Frank (the photographer) to take her to school so she would not miss her lessons.

Two days ago, on 13 November 1985, the Nevado del Ruiz volcano exploded in Colombia after many years of inactivity. People were asleep and before they realized what was going on, lava had already consumed more than 20,000 people in Armero and 13 surrounding villages.

The 13-year-old Omayra was one of those sleeping peacefully when the volcano burst, her house collapsed, her father and aunt were killed instantly, and her aunt's body hung under the water in the picture. But a brick wall collapsed over Omayra's legs Which prevented rescuers from rescuing her unless they amputated her legs, ''a process that her body would not tolerate'', or by pumping water around her body, but the possibilities were not available.

Colombia was engulfed in a civil war when the French photographer from New York arrived in Bogota, the capital of Colombia, two days after the volcano. Leftist rebels controlled the capital's palace of justice. As the army prepares to attack them, the photographer arrives at the devastated city of Omayra, Two hours and a half drive away, the effects of the disaster were everywhere, and rescuers were trying to get some alive without much success. One of them told Omayra that she had been in this situation for more than two days and had died three hours later.

Omayra was very courageous, talking to people, asking for sweets, drinking soda, singing a little, agreeing to have some interviews, and in other moments she was afraid and praying. On the third day, she started hallucinating, and she feared that she would miss the math exam. Her eyes darkened, and she died after three hours of the arrival of the photographer 

This picture was published a few days later in the Paris Match magazine and won the photojournalism award, but many people were angry: Why did not he help her? "Well sadly It was impossible," Fournier said. " The picture helped bring the truth to the world, and especially the strength of this little girl, Omayra Sánchez...

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