Many lives were lost when the Champlain Towers South in Surfside, Florida, collapsed on June 24, 2021. The incident happened in the early morning around 1:25 a.m. At the time, Angela Gonzalez was still awake. She was in the midst of watching a horror movie, not realizing that real-life terror would occur moments later that morning.
The 45-year-old mom was home with her 16-year-old daughter, Deven, as well as her husband Edgar. Their apartment was located on the ninth floor.
Angela remembers hearing a noise that sounded a little like an earthquake. At the time, she had no idea that the building was falling from under her. The last thing Angela remembers is screaming for her daughter to run and then, after the building started collapsing, grabbing her daughter as they fell.
Her daughter ended up falling down five stories. Angela fell as well, about four stories down. Both her husband and her father were among the 98 residents who lost their lives as their homes unexpectedly came crashing down.
Deven and Angela managed to make it out safely, which both of them seem stunned by. The collapse was so monumental, and they both fell significant distances. "It's indescribable," Deven told Today. "I can't even describe it to you." Chances are, she couldn't even comprehend what was happening when it happened.
"We made it maybe a couple steps out of our bedroom, and then the floor just started to cave," Angela said. "It was like two little falls. Falling as the floor caved in, and then I just grabbed her for the remainder of the fall." For Deven, the event happening so early in the morning made her have trouble believing that the incident was real.
"I remember Mom yelling, 'Run!' and dragging me out of bed," she said. "I was half asleep. I thought I was dreaming at that point." While they both survived, neither came out unscathed. Deven injured her femur while falling. She's still in the midst of recovery and has chosen to share her story on Instagram.
An active volleyball player, Deven was worried that her injuries would prevent her from playing. But she's found strength in her father, who will always serve as her inspiration.
"I was nervous because I know the fight to play again won't be easy and we are grieving as a family," she said in a post. "We lost one of the most amazing, caring, charismatic and kind of annoying yet loving father. Daddy wouldn't see this hardship as a reason to give up, we know as a family daddy would say Fight FOR IT!"
While Deven's injuries are upsetting, Angela was actually knocked unconscious during the collapse. Not knowing where her mother fell was devastating to Deven in the moment, making the situation even more horrifying to endure.
"For the first 15 minutes I didn't hear my mom, I didn't know where anyone was, and it was me constantly screaming for help," she told Today.
Once Angela was found, rescue teams used a door to serve as a makeshift stretcher to get her out of the rubble and debris. At the time, Deven's older sister, Tayler, wasn't at home, but she heard about the collapse on the news. All night, she assumed she lost her whole family at once.
Tayler also shared her feelings on Instagram. "After watching the video and seeing what happened during and after this collapse you have no choice but to believe in miracles," she wrote in a post containing a flashback photo of the family. "My mom Angela, and my sister Deven some how survived one of the most horrific catastrophes in our nations history. They have a reason for being here! I was home two hours before hand… I have a reason to be here."
Tayler also used that moment to remind her followers that in a collapse like this, there's so much her family lost. "We lost our childhood home," she wrote. "We lost all our belongings… memories… animals… and most importantly we lost the greatest man in our lives. This is going to be a long road to recovery. I know things will never be the same but with the right support we will eventually be able to find a new normal."
After the incident, Angela was in a coma for five days before waking up. After she did, she had to come to terms with the fact that she lost her husband.
"He was my best friend, he was my — my person," she told Today. "So every day, you go to sleep, and then you wake up and your whole life is completely different."
The Gonzalez family had lived there for 15 years. But in the blink of an eye, everything changed and they had to find a new home. They're among the many who are looking for answers as to how this was allowed to happen. So many families were destroyed due to what appears to be negligence in building and maintaining the condo's structural support.
For the survivors of the collapse, they're still struggling with the aftermath every day. While it's wonderful that their lives were saved during such a catastrophe, life as they once knew it has changed forever. This is a moment that'll follow them forever, and an upsetting reminder that life can be unpredictable.
