dpThe wife of a Venezuelan soccer star died while protecting their 1-year-old daughter during the twin earthquakes that devastated the South American country last week.
Héctor Bello, a defender for Venezuela’s professional soccer team Marítimo de La Guaira, announced on Instagram that his wife, Andrea Bello, was killed as she used her body to shield their daughter, Alana, as their building collapsed during Wednesday’s earthquakes. Alana survived and was rescued from the rubble.
“You’ll always be our favorite heroine, Mommy,” Bello wrote in Spanish in a post paying tribute to his late wife. “I’ll make sure to remind our baby girl how wonderful you were and how much you loved her.”
“I’ll tell her the story of how you saved her, my love — how you gave your own life for our daughter, how you were a brave woman who, even as you breathed your last breaths, never abandoned her,” he added.
According to Cumaná de Campeones, a local Venezuelan soccer organization, Andrea Bello was “found dead in the rubble” of the collapsed building where she lived following the earthquakes.
“His daughter survived the collapse of the building where the entire family lived,” the organization said, adding, “The entire state of Sucre and the entire football community embrace you and stand with you in respect and solidarity, hoping you find peace in this time of sorrow.”
Venezuela was hit by powerful 7.2 and 7.5-magnitude twin earthquakes that occured within 39 seconds of each other on June 24. As of Monday, 1,450 people have been reported dead, with thousands more still missing as rescue missions remain underway, according to The Associated Press. The event is believed to be the largest earthquake in the South American country in over a century.
In a series of emotional Instagram posts, Bello shared updates on his daughter’s condition and the heartbreak he’s enduring over the death of his wife.
“My daughter and her aunt are doing well, they won’t be discharged today – they’re staying at the hospital. Thank you so much for supporting me through this immense pain,” he wrote Friday from a hospital in Caracas.
In another post, Bello shared a message to his daughter.
“I need you to be strong,” he wrote. “Just wait a little longer. I need you to be the one to heal my heart, which is in pieces.”
“You won’t see your daddy strong or smiling like always, but I promise to heal and make you the happiest girl in the world,” the 28-year-old added. “Now it’s just you and me and your mommy watching over us from heaven. I know Andrea will give me strength.”
The soccer star concluded with a message to Alana on Andrea’s behalf. “I know that if she had a minute to say something to me,” he wrote, “she would tell me to protect you with my life like she did, and not to forget to always buy you the bananas you love so much.”
